Words Are Always Right
by Ace-Garnet
Summary: Soulmate AU where the first words your soulmate says to you are on your wrist. Raoul and Christine met when they were children and were happy to have found their soulmate so early in life. However, the words that mark their other wrist has yet to change over the years. Words that are exactly the same on both their wrists. Modern AU. Veterinarian Erik.
1. Operation Break-in: Conclusion – Failure

**As I said in my last story, here is the new fanfic. It's soulmate but oh so complicated. There is kind of an age gap in this one since Erik is in his low thirties while Raoul and Christine are seventeen. Not that any of that kind of thing happens in this. Plus, I figured people wouldn't mind it since all of us enjoy Phantom of the Opera knowing the ridiculous age gap between Erik and Christine in that!**

 **Anyway, on with the first chapter! Raoul's POV.**

Operation Break-in: Conclusion – Failure

"Do you have everything we need?" Christine whispered to Raoul as they made their way down to the house they chosen to break into.

It was late into the night, and they were both dressed in dark gray clothes. Black was actually not a great color to wear because people can see the solid black of the color while a dark gray blended in more.

"We didn't bring much and they're all in the bag. Plus, this is the tenth time you've asked me. And what do I answer with?" Raoul replied sarcastically, lifting his black bag in his hand and giving it a shake for good measure. He could hear a couple things rattle inside.

"Yes, we got everything." Christine answered. She turned away from him but Raoul could tell she was biting her lip from nerves.

Raoul sighed and put his free hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Christine. This will be a piece of cake! I know the people living there are gone. Probably on some vacation or something since its summer. The house doesn't have a security system, I've made sure to check that plenty of times. Don't worry about it."

"Raoul." Christine growled. Slapping his hand off her shoulder, she glared at him. "We're walking to break into someone's house right now! Don't tell me to not worry!"

Raoul held up both his hands in a placating gesture. "Alright, I'm sorry. You're right, but you know as well as I do that we need the money."

Christine shook her head in defeat but didn't reply. Raoul didn't say anything either. The rest of the trip to the target's house was quiet, neither saying a word to the other. It was awkward but Raoul wasn't going to let himself change his mind, they needed the money to get through the summer. They no longer had two guaranteed meals from school for the next two months and they needed the money for other things but mostly food. They didn't get a lot from their foster house, they foster dad was a jerk. Everyone in that house except the foster dad was having trouble getting enough food every day. Both Christine and he were able to get jobs at a burger joint but they wouldn't be getting their first paycheck for another week.

In all, they were desperate.

Eventually, Raoul spotted the house that he knew the mother and daughter who lived there weren't home. He had checked the neighbor out a few times to make sure that they were really gone to be extra sure. He didn't know why they left, but he didn't really care. He gently elbowed Christine in her side to get her attention. She glanced at him and he pointed to the house that they were going to break into. Christine bit her lip again but followed Raoul.

They were going to break into a house. This is the first time Raoul's done something like this.

Raoul walked up to the house, looking from side to side to make sure that no one was peeking out of their window and would spot them. All around the windows for the houses were closed and the lights were off. Focusing back on the house, he went to the door and jiggled the knob to see if it was unlocked.

It wasn't.

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy?" Christine whispered dryly behind him and he sent her a scowl.

"You know, I don't think I would put up with all the sass if you weren't my soulmate." Raoul responded, setting his bag on the front step.

Christine stuck her tongue out at him. "You love me and you know it!" she answered.

"Meh," was all his answer as he went to the windows to check to see if any of them were open. He grinned as he heard Christine's muffled giggle behind him.

Yes, soulmates. No one knows why humans have the ability to find their soulmates through words that appear on their wrists when someone turns five. Everyone's fifth birthday is a big deal because of it. The words only appear as a person sleeps, the first words their soulmate will say to them appear on their right wrists. The words appear small but readable on the inside, right over the vein. When they first appear they are a black color, however, the moment someone meets their soulmate, the words turn white, indicating that the soulmate has been found. It's quite a relief that there was something to tell someone when the words were said about the right person. It would have been difficult otherwise for anyone who had the more simple words like a greeting. People are trying to figure out the reason and science behind the words, and some things have been discovered but the majority of people are okay with accepting the words as is. Finding a soulmate changes a lot of situations that would not have occurred otherwise.

Raoul had woken up on his fifth birthday excited to see what his soulmate would say to him. Much to his surprise he had found writing on both his right and left wrist. Having two soulmates wasn't rare but it was still uncommon enough to take one by surprise if it occurred. Upon seeing the words on his left wrist, he had freaked out and ran out of his room to confront his mom. She saw the black words and gave him a smile.

"Now you have two people who will love you with all their hearts. This is a good thing Raoul." She had whispered softly, patting his head fondly.

After that, Raoul had worn his words with pride. Though he wasn't exactly pleased with the words themselves.

The one on his right was a simple _Thank you_ while the other on his left was _Hey! What are you two doing?_ Not the most specific words there could be. At least it wasn't a simple _Hello_ so he worked with what he had.

He had found his first soulmate a lot quicker than he had thought he would.

Raoul had been seven and was on a trip to the beach with his parents. He was playing on the edge of the water when he had heard a scream. He had turned and saw a girl his age running towards the water, chasing after a scarf. The scarf landed in the ocean a few meters away from the edge and the girl had stopped, crying. Raoul immediately went further into the freezing water and swam until he got the scarf. He had swam back to the coast and crawled out of the ocean shivering, in front of the shocked girl. His parents had been waiting for him beside the girl but he ignored them in favor of holding out the drenched scarf.

"It's wet. But here's your scarf, miss." He had stated, trying to get back his breath.

The girl's eyes had widen some more and she pressed her hand to her mouth. Quickly she took the scarf and pressed it against her chest.

"Thank you." She replied with a watery smile.

Out of habit, Raoul glanced down to see if his words on his right wrist had changed at all and did a double take. His words had turned white.

Raoul whipped his head back up at the now giggling girl, gawking. The girl lifted up her sleeve on her right wrist and Raoul saw the words he had said only a few moments ago in white wording on the girl's wrist.

"I'm Christine!" the girl introduced herself, beaming.

Raoul smiled back at her and stood up. "I'm Raoul."

Obviously, they were inseparable after that. Later, Raoul had shown Christine his left wrist and told her about how he had a second soulmate as well. Christine had squinted at the words then smiled largely, which had made him confused because usually people don't like the idea of having to share their soulmate, or at least that's what he's heard. However, Christine had revealed her left wrist to him, and Raoul understood her reaction. On her left wrist were the same black words that Raoul had on his wrist. At that moment, both had been extremely excited at the idea of not only having a second soulmate but it being the same person as well and they would meet them at the same time!

They had made that discovery when they were seven and have since been searching for their missing partner. Ten years had gone by and a lot has happened what with the two of them now being in the foster system, but Raoul had a lot of hope. Sure, sometimes they both had moments of bleakness where they didn't believe they would ever find them but luckily they never had those periods at the same time, allowing the other to be able to bring the gloomy one out of it.

Raoul walked to his third window and tried lifting it. To his surprise, the window moved up and he whipped his head around to Christine with a triumphant smile.

"Victory! Now we don't have to break into anything." Raoul whispered excitedly and waved Christine over.

He lifted the window higher for him to fit through and Christine came to him with his bag. Raoul listened for a couple moments to make sure no one was in the house. He heard nothing except a couple house settling noises and was satisfied with that. He climbed in through the window and turned back to take the bag from Christine to be able to climb in. As she climbed inside, Raoul took a look around the place.

It was a simple home. Warm and comfortable and filled with a child's playthings. Too bad the TV would be too heavy for them to take with them. Once Christine was all the way in, the two of them took a look around the place. It was a two story so they moved within the downstairs first. Raoul wasn't too surprised that there wasn't anything of much value on the first floor, usually such valuable possessions are in the bedroom.

He heard his stomach growl, and loudly at that.

Raoul felt his cheeks flushed and placed a hand over his stomach. Christine shot him an amused look.

"What? I haven't eaten basically all day!" Raoul hissed, rubbing his stomach as it growled again.

Christine shrugged and pointed her thumb at a doorway entrance that Raoul saw the kitchen appliances in.

"What to get something to go? I don't think they'll notice even when they get back." Christine asked, already heading towards the kitchen.

Raoul wanted to protest and make her come back but his stomach let out another growl, this time louder than the previous ones as if demanding that he follow Christine. He let out a sigh in defeat and trailed after her.

Christine was standing in front of an open fridge when Raoul entered. She sent him a grin and took out the bread and what looked like turkey meat.

"I'll make us a couple sandwiches. Look around to see if you can find anything upstairs." She instructed already beginning to assemble the sandwiches.

"Don't you think they'll notice a chuck of their bread missing?" Raoul asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I probably wouldn't, depends on how much I use the bread I guess." Christine countered and made a shooing motion for him to get out.

Raoul shook his head and walked back out. He did another sweep of the downstairs. Not finding anything of value except for the TV that they wouldn't be able to carry, he decided to go upstairs. He found the bathroom, a den, and the kid's room. Raoul had a hard time figuring out whether the room was for a boy or a girl with all the different items scattered around. He ultimately gave up on trying to figure it out and left the room to head to the master room. Unlike the others, this door was closed but he didn't see a lock on the door knob.

"Raoul! Come get your sandwich!" He heard Christine's voice echo through the house as he was reaching to open the door.

Raoul flinched at the volume and hurried back to the kitchen.

"Why would you do that?!" he hissed upon entering the room.

"To get your attention." Christine answered with an eye roll. "No one is here, meaning there's no one to wake up."

"Still…" he grumbled, walking further into the kitchen until he was standing by Christine.

"Do you want the sandwich or not?" Christine teased, holding the sandwich away from him playfully.

Raoul's stomach growled again and she giggled.

"Does that answer your question?" Raoul deadpanned and took the offered sandwich. He took a bite. It was plain but good.

"Find anything yet?" Christine asked, taking a bite out of her own sandwich.

Raoul shook his head then swallowed. "I was about to enter the master but you called for me. Maybe we'll at least find something of value like jewelry or something."

Christine nodded and both of them went back to their sandwiches. They were almost done when things went bad.

"Hey! What are you two doing?!" a deep voice yelled from behind Raoul.

He saw Christine whip her head up with wide eyes and she let out a scream in terror, dropping her sandwich. Raoul has never heard her scream in fear, and it wasn't a pleasant sound.

"Run!" Raoul yelled to Christine before turning to face whoever was there to give her time. He let out a yell upon seeing the sight.

The man's face was unlike anything Raoul had seen before in real life, though maybe seen in a movie, but the man was obviously not wearing any makeup. Raoul understood why Christine had screamed.

Christine grabbed his arm and pulled him. They both went to the kitchen door and Christine unlocked it. The two of them raced out and jumped over the fence without a backwards glance.

It was only after they got back to their place that Raoul realized that the man had never made any move toward them, but had stayed firmly at the kitchen's entrance.

What neither him nor Christine noticed was that the words on their left wrist had turned white.

 **And so it begins! What a way to meet, right?! Anyway, next chapter is going to be in Erik's POV so that you can get acquainted with him in this story. Hoped you enjoy the read and drop me a review! I love them, they keep me excited about my story as I post!**


	2. The Housesitter

The House-sitter

"Well, that was lovely." Erik mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face to wake him up some more. Though the screams of the two teens caused him to wake a lot. Considering the fact that they were the ones who broke in, he believed they didn't have the right to scream at his appearance.

He walked into the kitchen and scanned the room for anything missing. The teens who had broken in and run out of the house quickly but didn't look like they had been carrying anything. Then again, if it was small enough, it could have been stashed in the black bag the boy had with him.

Sighing, Erik moved around to the other side of the kitchen island. Bread and meat were out on top of the island and two almost finished sandwiches were there as well. Frowning, he picked up the sandwiches and discarded them in the trashcan. He thought about the teens appearances. They were both thin, too thin for their ages.

Erik put away the bread and turkey meat back into the fridge and cleaned up the crumbs on the counter. He locked the kitchen back door. He walked out and went around the house to make sure nothing was taken. As he entered to check the living room, he spotted one of the windows open.

So that was how they got in, he thought. He went to it and shut it, then locked it firmly in place. He checked the other windows and didn't find another unlocked. Once he was done with locking everything up and making sure nothing had been taken from the downstairs, he turned off all the lights and headed to the second floor to check those rooms. He checked, and was satisfied that nothing had been taken.

He didn't think the bread and meat counted.

Erik walked back into the master bedroom, the adrenaline of having people break in long since worn off. He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.

He woke up the next morning to his alarm going off. He turned it off and sat up in bed with a yawn. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed and proceeded to do his morning routine. Once he was done, he went into the kitchen to make himself a simple breakfast of cereal. Finishing it quickly, he rinsed his dishes and continued his way towards the front entrance. Grabbing his keys he went out the door and locked it.

Erik went to his car that was parked in the street instead of the driveway, and droved until he reached his clinic.

Parking, he got out of his car and unlocked the door. He flipped the 'Open' sign once he entered, the bell above the door giving out a small chime with the movement, and made his way to the computer to check his appointments for the day. Luckily, it was all checkups, though it's always possible for an emergency patient to come in. Erik was hoping that if that were to happen, it wouldn't have to be any surgeries until his partner got back from vacation.

The temp worker who worked the front desk wasn't there yet, but Erik didn't mind. The mornings of the weekdays were usually pretty slow since majority of people were heading to work or at work during the time.

Erik used the peace of the front to go check his overnight patients.

He went to the back and opened the door that kept his patients inside. As soon as the door cracked opened, an eruption of noise hit him. He didn't have a lot of patients at the moment but cats and dogs always made loud cries when they wanted too.

Erik immediately began to sing a tune he often used to calm the animals down. The melody was soft but as he moved from one cage to another he projected his voice so that the sound rang through the room louder than the barking and meows. It wasn't long until the room was quiet and at least half of the animals were dozing.

With a grin, Erik continued his work for the day.

Eventually it was his lunch break, though it was a late one because the owner of his last patient was a young one and it was the child's first pet. The young boy eagerly asked him a bunch a questions as Erik did his first look over the Pitbull puppy to which he had answered all calmly and patiently. The boy left the room to head to the front with a pleased smile and had the puppy clenched to his chest.

Erik headed to the back room and washed his hands thoroughly before taking his coat off and went to the front. He opened the door between the back and the waiting room and saw a dark man dressed in a cheap suit sitting in one of the chairs.

"You're lucky that I'm chief now, or else I wouldn't have the luxury of waiting for you to be ready to get lunch." The man grumbled as he stood up then stretched.

Erik smiled. "Hello to you too, Nadir."

Nadir Khan and he had met when Erik was in vet school and Nadir had just been promoted to Lieutenant in his police force. The older students had pulled a prank on the younger ones and the policed had ended up being called. Erik hadn't been fast enough at escaping and Nadir was the one that caught him. The older man had taken pity on Erik after he had explained what had happened and let him go unpunished. Grateful to the cop, Erik made the effort to find the man again and thanked him. It had taken him a while to find the Lieutenant but he did and they had been friends since. Often the only chance they got to meet up were the once a week lunches they set aside for each other and even those had to sometimes be cancelled and rescheduled if possible for the week.

"Yeah, yeah. Hi to you too. Come on, I'm hungry." Nadir grumbled, gesturing for Erik to hurry up and he walked outside.

Erik shot the temp, Kevin, a nod in goodbye and then followed his friend.

They took Nadir's car because Nadir had once told Erik after he asked him why he insisted on using his car when they went out for lunch. His friend had answered that it's funny to watch people suddenly drive carefully and actually obeying the driving laws just because of his car's presence.

Erik had to admit that he thought it was funny too.

They ended up choosing a chicken joint for today's lunch. They ordered and soon got their order and went and sat at one of the smaller tables.

"How is the wife and son?" Erik asked as he ate.

"Rookheeya is fine and Darius has recently gotten into spending most of his time on the computer. We have to practically force him to go outside every once in a while." Nadir answered with a snort.

"Oh?" Erik replied. "How is he spending his time on the computer? Not on those soulless social media websites I hope."

Nadir shook his head. "Thankfully no. He plays games mostly. RPG's he says their called."

"I've heard about those. Depending on the game, they could help improve strategic skills." Erik stated calmly.

"Yeah, maybe but I don't want him spending all his time on the computer!" Nadir sighed. "Screen can ruin his eyes."

"Have you tired setting a limit to how much time he's allowed to be on?" Erik asked, taking a sip from his drink.

"Yes, and so far its work, but he's not a teenager yet. Who knows how much that's going to change things?" Nadir stated tiredly.

Erik smirked. "You and the Madame make me glad that I do not have kids."

Nadir rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you adore Darius and Meg and you know it."

"I do." Erik conceded with a nod. "But I also do not have to deal with them all the time like you and Antoinette."

Nadir snorted in agreement and Erik smiled.

"So what's been going on with you lately?" Nadir asked, starting to eat his last chicken leg. "I know the Madame is on vacation with Meg and you're house sitting. How's that going?"

"Surprisingly more lively then I thought it would be. I had a break in last night." Erik stated.

Nadir stared at him with wide eyes, pausing in his motion to take another bite. "Wait what? Do you want to report it?"

Erik shook his head. "Nothing was stolen and, as you can see, I am unharmed. I think they were more startled to see me then I them."

"What? Why?" Nadir questioned with a frown.

"Ah well…" Erik trailed off for a second and poked at his mask that covered majority of his face except below his cheeks. "Let's just say that I was not wearing my mask when I had confronted them. They left in a hurry after that."

"I'll bet!" Nadir chuckled. "Serves them right for breaking into a house in the first place. Did they say anything?"

"Well, they screamed after they saw me if you can call that saying anything." Erik admitted and Nadir barked out a laugh. Erik rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "But that was not the part that bothered me."

One of Nadir's eyebrows went up. "People break into the house you're house sitting, scream and run away when they see your face and that's not what bothers you?"

Erik shook his head. "While I know they were there to steal what they could, you know what they did instead?"

Nadir shrugged and Erik continued, "They made sandwiches."

"Huh," Nadir stated thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Not exactly experts are they?"

"No, I would say that it was their first time." Erik answered then frowned. "They look thin, much too thin and young. I guess they were in their late teens at most."

"Think they'll homeless runaways?" Nadir asked, his tone suddenly becoming a lot more serious. Erik didn't blame him, it was part of his job after all.

"No, they did not look homeless but maybe neglected? I cannot say, but I doubt they would break into a house if they were not desperate." Erik responded firmly.

Nadir nodded and straighten up in his seat. "Siblings?"

Erik shook his head. "They didn't look like it, though I think they are close. Possibly soulmates."

Nadir hummed and took a sip of his coffee. Erik scrunched his nose underneath the mask. He hated coffee, yet his older friend practically lived off of it.

"Either way, I doubt I'll be seeing them again. They might have come because they thought the house was empty but I drastically changed that thought for them." Erik indicated looking out the window, watching a few cars drive pass.

"You almost sound a little disappointed, my friend." He heard Nadir teased.

"I do not like seeing kids neglected. And by the state they were in, I would bet that they are." Erik stated firmly, giving his friend a side glance.

Nadir sighed then nodding in sympathy. "I know, me neither. Who knows? Maybe you were meant to meet them. Maybe you're supposed to help them."

Erik shrugged and turned to face Nadir completely. "While I very much doubt that, I thank you for the thought."

Later, after Nadir had dropped him back off at his clinic and he spent the rest of the day doing checkups, Erik found himself taking a glance down at his coat covered wrists every now and then.

At the end of the day, Kevin left with a goodbye and Erik closed up the clinic. He made sure that all his overnight patients had enough food and water to last them through the night. He locked up and went to his car.

Once inside, he took a glance down and rubbed the scarred skin where his words should be. He had one on both his wrists but he had forgotten years ago what was supposed to be under the burned patches of skin that he had received when he was five. Erik hadn't thought about his soulmates in a while, usually much too busy with the clinic and helping his friend and partner Antoinette raise her daughter, Meg. But for some strange reason, the appearance of the couple breaking into the Madame's house has brought the thoughts to the front of his mind.

Thoughtfully, Erik rubbed his left wrist with his right thumb. Maybe it was because they were young and they have already found each other. One was rarely that lucky in life. He himself was already thirty-two and no such luck for him. Then again, with his scars, he wouldn't know who his soulmate would be even if they had met.

Erik let out a sigh. He stopped looking at his wrist, put his car in drive and drove out of the clinic parking lot.

 **There you go! Hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Leave reviews, they make me happy and excited about my story! Next chapter is in Christine's POV! See ya!**


	3. Operation Mug Someone: Conclusion – Fail

Operation Mug Someone: Conclusion – Failure.

"I don't like this. I _really_ don't like this." Christine stressed as she waited with Raoul in an alleyway for someone alone to come by.

She saw Raoul rolled his eyes next to her. "I know but the first idea didn't exactly work out as plan and we're basically starving now."

"We broke into someone's house that ended up not being as empty as you thought it was and now we're waiting to ambush someone. I think your ideas are heading in the wrong direction." Christine hissed.

"I know. I know. Look, it's been a week since that failure with the house. We're going to get our paychecks soon and we'll be making a steady amount from now on. All we need is enough cash for a couple meals, that's it. Plus, it's not like we're going to hurt them! We don't even have weapons!" Raoul pointed out and lifted his hands, displaying the fact that he has nothing on him.

"I can't believe you were able to talk me into this. Especially after what had happened at that house. That poor man! We screamed at his face and we were the ones breaking in!" she exclaimed and Raoul quickly hushed her.

"Yeah, I'll admit that it wasn't our greatest moment." He whispered sheepishly, dropping his eyes to the ground. "But it's not like we could have gone back and apologized. He would've had us arrested in a second."

"You don't know that. He didn't chase after us or do anything other than that first thing he said." Christine argued.

"Yes, and what was that again?" Raoul asked sarcastically.

Christine huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know I don't remember. The panic of getting caught made sure of that."

Raoul shook his head with a defeated sigh. "Yeah, same here, only heard the yell but can't remember what he actually said."

"Probably something not all that friendly." She suggested trying to make light of the situation they had found themselves in a couple days when the break in failure took place.

Christine had started her job late into the previous week working as a cashier for the burger joint she got hired for the summer. She had woken up and, in a daze, started getting ready for her shift. She had stumbled to the bathroom she shared with the rest of the foster girls in the house. She got to the shower and had reached forward to turn the knobs to get the water going. She had taken a glance down and noticed something about her left wrist.

She screamed as she had realized what it was, waking up everyone who wasn't already in awake in the house. Luckily, their foster dad wasn't home, or else there would have been serious consequences.

Raoul had gotten to her first, seeing as it was her scream and they were soulmates. The bathroom door slammed against the wall as he rushed in but Christine paid it no mind. Raoul immediately asked her what was wrong and tried to see if she had any injuries from his spot in the doorway.

In answer, she had held up her left wrist silently and she heard Raoul drawn in a sharp breath of air and look at his own wrist.

The words on their wrist had turned white and they didn't notice when or with who.

For the rest of the week, the two of them had scrambled their brains, trying to remember what they had done and who they had talked with that they never met before. Sadly, the two of them had a long list since they had started their jobs and met plenty of new people but they were positive that they hadn't heard anyone say their words to them individually much less with both of them present.

Then there was the guy in the house they broke into. Christine had been the one to bring it up but neither of them could remember what he had said to them, too busy being panicked and feeling the desperate need to get out of there because they were caught.

Plus there was the fact regarding his face…

"You really think someone who looks like that could be our missing partner?" Raoul had grumbled.

Christine punched him in his shoulder and he let out a yelp. He glared at her as he rubbed the spot and she glared back.

"How can you be so shallow?" She criticized.

"Oh come on!" Raoul countered. "I wasn't the only one with a bad reaction, you screamed first if I remember correctly."

"Yes and I have felt terrible ever since!" she growled. She forced herself to calm down, taking a deep breath through her nose, then let it out slowly. "Look, I'm not saying he is, but I'm not saying he isn't either. Soulmates are beyond appearances, they are who we need to get through life, and I for one, know I will love my soulmate no matter what they look like because they are mine just like I am theirs. And if he's ours, we've made a very big step backward in earning his love and trust."

Raoul stared at her for a few moments in silence. Standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest. Christine didn't break eye contact and eventually he sighed.

"Yeah, okay. You're right. Not saying he is, but he's definitely not off the list yet." He conceded and she smiled proudly at him. He grinned back.

Sadly, they have both been busy with working all day for the past week that they hadn't had time to do anything about trying to find the man. They were too tired after work and they agreed that they wouldn't break into the house again just to meet the man and they didn't exactly remember what he looked like either. It had been dark in the house and while they had sort of seen his face enough to be horrified by it, it wasn't enough to be picked out on the street at random.

Christine was brought out of her thoughts when Raoul elbowed her gently in her side. She looked up and saw him nod towards the street. She heard a pair of feet coming their way and it was, luckily, only one pair. She could tell it was a man, and by the sounds of his steps, he was wearing dress shoes.

Since it was a man, Raoul would be the one to do the distracting while Christine would sneak up from behind and do the pickpocketing. Together, they would run away quickly, hopefully the man would be too shocked to follow after them.

Christine heard the man's steps coming towards them from behind them, approaching from the direction opposite of where they were facing. Worked for them because the man wouldn't see them until they came to him.

The man finally got to their alleyway and didn't pause in his stride. He got a few meters away and Raoul acted.

He pushed off the wall and followed the man. Christine followed Raoul a few feet away, both of them trying to keep their steps quiet which was easy since they were wearing worn down sneakers. She noticed that the man in front of them was taller than both of them by a couple inches, more for her then Raoul and had shiny black hair that was smooth back with gel. He had long legs and strong shoulders that was covered with dress clothes that fit the man extremely nicely.

Christine wanted to call out to Raoul to make him stop, the guilt of what she was about to do weighing her down but it was too late.

Raoul had gotten to the man and grabbed his shoulder. The man startled and tried to turn, but Raoul quickly moved to stand in front of him so that he wouldn't see Christine. Taking both of the stranger's shoulders in his hands, Raoul leaned forward and pressed his lips to the man's.

The man instantly froze from shock and Christine used the time to get to them and pull out the man's wallet and phone. She started running back the way they came and, as she ran, she called out Raoul's name to for him to start running too.

She turned back to make sure he was coming with her. He was, but she also saw the man had turned around to stare after them. Glowing yellow eyes wide in shock underneath an almost ghost white mask was all she saw and she forced herself to turn around and away from those haunting eyes.

Christine ran until she had a hard time breathing and the sun was setting in the sky. Panting she slowed down, going from a sprit to a fast walk.

"Damn, Christine. Did you have to keep running for so long?" Raoul panted as he caught up with her and slowed down his pace.

Christine shook her head. "We just mugged a guy, Raoul. Forgive me, if I had wanted to put as much distance from the act as possible."

Raoul sighed but didn't say anything.

The two of them had taken a specific route and soon came across the deserted house they liked to hang out in to get away from their foster house and more specifically, their foster dad.

It hadn't been occupied for a while. There was an owner, but they never stopped by and didn't put the effort into rebuilding it. It was a worn down one story house that had all its walls covered in graffiti and the furniture was old and dusty.

Christine hopped the fence and Raoul did the same. The two made their way inside and settle down to catch their breath and relax.

"Let me see what you got?" Raoul asked and Christine tossed him the phone and wallet. She sat on the edge of one of the chairs.

"Why'd you take his phone? We were going after the wallet?" he questioned with a frown. He shifted the phone from one hand to the other and sat down on the torn couch.

Christine rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I wanted to get the job done as fast as possible and had checked both his pockets. I took what I found and ran away with them."

Raoul shrugged. "Better turn it off though. Wouldn't want them to find this place and us with location services if they have it on."

Christine watched him turn it off and place it on the frame of the coffee table that didn't have the table part. Outside it was dark now and she could hear the crickets coming out to mate with their chirps. She turned back to Raoul when she heard him groan.

"Ah man…" he groaned, rubbing his face with one of his hands. He was holding up a card with the rest of the wallet opened on his lap.

"What?" she inquired nervously. They didn't steal from a cop did they?

Raoul held the card so that it was facing Christine. She saw that it was a business card with the name Erik Destler along with a cell and business phone number underneath. At the top there was a name of an animal clinic and Christine felt another, larger wave of guilt wash over her.

"We mugged a vet! We stole from a guy who spends his days helping animals heal!" he answered in dismay. He let his head fall back and put his arm over his eyes. "We're terrible people!"

"While I appreciate the remorse, I'll settle with having my things returned if you please." A deep, smooth voice stated from the doorway, causing Christine to jump.

"You!" Raoul yelped, standing up quickly and pointing at the man who they had ambushed about an hour ago.

Christine watched wary as the man walked into the small room. His presence filling the space so much that she had a hard time believing that they didn't notice him in the first place.

"Yes, me. Can you please return my things?" the man, Erik, Christine thought as she stared at the man.

"H-how did you even find us? I turned off your phone!" Raoul demanded, ignoring the question.

"That'll be my doing and you'll be lucky if my friend here doesn't press charges against the two of you." Another deep but rough voice spoke from behind Erik.

Erik turned around and stepped out of the way for a dark man wearing a cheap suit to enter the house.

"Now, now Nadir. No need to be hostile. I only want my things back." Erik placated to the other man, Nadir. His yellow eyes focused on the two of them. "Do I have to ask again for my things or shall I allow my cop friend here do what he wants?"

Oh crap, Christine thought. They mugged a vet who is friends with a cop. They definitely had bad luck in these things.

"Give him his stuff back!" she hissed at Raoul, who quickly gathered the phone and wallet and held the items out to Erik.

Erik broke away from the entrance and walked over to Raoul.

"Thank you." He acknowledged pleasantly and with a grin as he took his things back.

"Are you sure you don't want to press charges? These are the two who broke into the Madame's house right? That's two offenses against you." Nadir asked his friend with a disapproving frown.

"I believe they have learned their lesson." Erik began quickly, not looking back at his friend but instead watching her and Raoul. "I believe this scare along with the scare they receive upon seeing my face is punishment enough."

Nadir snorted from his spot but remained there.

Christine saw Raoul's jaw drop and she knew she probably had a similar expression.

"Yo-you're that man?!" Christine gasped.

Eyes like melted gold focused on her fully and she had to hold back another gasp from such attention.

"Yes," Erik began slowly, cocking his head to the side. "I am that man. Funny how we first meet it's with you breaking into my friend's house and screaming at me in terror and the next you decide to rob me. Apparently, from your reactions, having not known I was the same person. We certainly should stop meeting like this."

The last part was said with a smirk and Christine had to hold back a hysterical giggle. She couldn't believe that the person her and Raoul think might be their missing partner was standing in front of them because they had _mugged_ him.

They were not doing a great job at making a good impression that's for sure.

"We are sorry." Christine apologized. Erik didn't say anything, she continued. "We were a little desperate for money and needed enough to get by for food until our jobs paid us."

"Desperate huh?" Erik whispered thoughtfully.

"Erik." Nadir pronounced the other man's name in a warning tone.

Erik grinned and held up his wallet. "Who wants pizza?"

 **And so they meet again...because Raoul and Christine mugged Erik. Lol Hope my readers enjoyed the chapter. Leave me your thoughts in a review! Next chapter is in Erik's POV.**

 **I've been meaning to do this for a while but kept forgetting. Because I have written a few fanfics already, I think it's time my dear readers met MY PHATNOM. We all have our favorites and Dmitry Ermak is mine. So, if anyone is interested the first link is the trailer to the Russian Phantom of the Opera. I first saw the show in Moscow and fell in love with the singers, especially the Phantom who was played by Dmitry in my performance. If one could fall in love with a voice…sigh. Anyway, the second link is to a short clip of the musical in Russian, and Dmitry's in it. I don't know who my Christine was. The clip starts with Little Lotte but if you just want the Phantom parts go to 2:15 for the beginning of Angel of Music, 4:10 to go to Phantom of the Opera. It also does the beginning of Music of the Night, but it's not the whole thing. But I'm hoping all of you will watch the whole thing because we are all fans right? Let me know your thoughts in review! Though please don't make an argument over who's the best, we all have our favorite.**

 **watch?v=lUB2ByePGA4 &list=LLkUxc4piD3CaZWSVdxxddlg&index=21**

 **watch?v=ysC8txLo9WI &list=LLkUxc4piD3CaZWSVdxxddlg&index=20**


	4. New Houseguests

**So I'm a complete idiot. I forgot about the no copy-paste thing on the website. But if you're interested in seeing my phantom here:** **on youtube search Russian Phantom of the Opera trailer and it should be the first video on the list. It's titled Phantom Moscow - Trailer (Трейлер «Призрак Оперы»)! For the clip you can put 10:36 2015 Moscow The Phantom Of the Opera/ Mercedesz**

 **I hope my readers watch them! Anyway, on with the story.**

New Houseguests

"Wait, let me see if I have this right." Antoinette stated slowly, pointing at Erik for good measure. "The two teens, the same two who broke into my house and then later robbed you, are going to be staying with you?"

Erik shrugged, eating his lunch. "You have that perfectly correct, Madame."

It has been a couple days since Erik had invited the two teens, Raoul and Christine to live with him until they were back on their feet and a lot healthier. He had asked them as the four of them ate pizza together at a pizza plaza a couple streets down the road from the house they were found in. He had observed them as the two teens ate, both of them gobbling down one slice after another as if they hadn't eaten in days. Nadir had immediately began protesting, of course, but Erik didn't think they would agree as fast as they did. It took him by surprise that only a few moments and one side glance to each other did the two agree.

The look the two shared was a little concerning to Erik for a moment. It made it seem like they had another motive besides living comfortably for the next couple months. But he brushed it off as more being the way the two came to an understanding to agree.

"You're in foster care aren't you? Won't your foster dad notice you missing?" Nadir argued, appearing majorly put out by the whole thing. That was always a plus for Erik when he could get the older man that uncomfortable.

The girl, Christine, shrugged and took another bite of her pizza. "I don't think he'll notice and if he does, he wouldn't care either way. The other kids will probably be happy as well since there will be more food to go around."

Nadir sighed tiredly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, about that, I'm going to need the name of this foster dad. From the things you have told me I'm going to do some research on this guy because he doesn't sound like somebody who should be looking after kids."

Raoul, the boy, was the one to do most of the talking about the guy and gave Nadir what he could.

"You're completely insane. You know that?" Antoinette accused, taking a bite out of her salad.

"Yes, I am aware and have been called such things multiple times." Erik replied simply.

The two of them were in the clinics break room. Sometimes they went out to get lunch, but majority of the time they brought something from home. Erik was relieve to have his partner back. He loved his work and coming to the clinic every day, but it was better with his friend there to spend the day with.

His friend shook her head in disbelief. "This could go wrong in so many different ways. I hope you know that."

"Well, yes, but I don't think I have to worry. Nadir made sure to give them quite the scare before I took them in the first night." Erik answered with an amused smirk, remembering what had happened.

"Pfft. Oh I'm sure he did." Antoinette smirked. "Tell me."

She asked, so he complied.

The four of them had finished their meal and Erik had gone to the counter to pay the bill and the other three went to wait outside. Erik paid and walked to the exit. As he did, he saw Nadir speaking to the two teens with a serious expression. He also noticed that the younger two were steadily becoming more and more pale as the man spoke.

Knowing that the police chief was threatening them, Erik quickly picked up his pace and went outside.

"—and if anything, and I mean anything goes missing and/or Erik is hurt in anyway I'll know exactly who to blame and let me tell you, I won't let him stop me from arresting you for—"

"Nadir!" Erik interrupted, grabbing his friend's shoulder. "Please, stop threatening the poor teens, I think you've frightened them enough already."

Nadir let out a snort. "You can never scare people enough from committing a crime, and these two have already done two. I'm just being cautious."

Erik squeezed his shoulder. "And I thank you for that, my friend, but the boy looks like he's about to faint."

It was true, Raoul was shockingly pale and was gapping. Erik had to admit that Christine didn't look all that much better.

"That's how you know it's working!" Nadir countered.

Antoinette was laughing by the time Erik finished telling her what had happened.

"That Mr. Khan." She giggled, trying to get her composure back. "He's sure turned into a gruff chief, hasn't he?"

"Oh, I do not think he's really changed since I've first met him." Erik replied with a smirk.

Antoinette pointed at him reproachfully. "That's because you're the one that purposely tries to rile him up all the time! He is a perfect gentleman until you start your teasing!"

"What can I say, I like having my fun." Erik countered causally, but his smirk widen.

Antoinette let out a huff but there was a grin on her lips so Erik didn't believe she was annoyed with him.

"Is that what this is about? Having fun? You next amusement?" she asked, her tone abruptly taking on a serious tone.

Erik's playful mood evaporated instantly and he sent her a scowl.

"My dear Madame, I believe you would know me better than that. For you to even think about asking such a question is awful." He stated darkly.

"Calm yourself Erik." Antoinette commanded firmly. "I wanted to ask to make sure you know what you are doing because I have known you almost my entire life and still sometimes wonder what goes on in that head of yours."

Erik took a deep breath and let it out. He made himself relaxed and release the death grip he hand on his fork.

"I suppose I cannot say I blame you." Erik sighed, calmed down from his earlier anger. "Sometimes, I do not understand what goes on in my head either."

"Then why are you doing this? Why are you helping these teens out?" Antoinette asked and he could tell that she was genuinely curious.

"Come now. Surely you, someone who knows what my childhood was like, could have at least some sort of guess as to why I'm doing this." Erik answered, going back to his salad.

"Because you were in foster care as well?" she offered.

Erik nodded. "Obviously I cannot do much for them because they are already seventeen and will soon be turning eighteen and able to leave the system. However, I want to do what I can for them so that when the times comes, they'll be ready to take on the world in full health."

"You're such a softy." Antoinette cooed at him playfully and Erik rolled his eyes.

"I blame you and Nadir. If the two of you didn't have kids I probably would not care."

"Oh, no. You don't get to blame this on me and Mr. Khan. This is all you." Antoinette denied. "How are they settling in anyway?"

Erik shrugged, finished with his meal, he stood up and walked to the kitchen sink.

"Fine, I guess. It is a rather interesting situation they are finding themselves in. I was truly surprised when they took my offer. They're seventeen, waiting a few more months to leave should not have been that much of a big deal."

He heard Antoinette hum behind him. "Think they got another motive?"

Erik turned back to face her and leaned against the sink. "I do not know. If they did it certainly could not be anything nefarious. I'm almost positive that Nadir had stopped any of those possible thoughts in their tracks. However, I have noticed that they share a lot of silent looks with one another. It's quite curious actually."

"I never asked, but are they related?" Antoinette inquired. She finished her own salad and stood up from the table to walk to the sink.

"No they're soulmates." Erik answered, moving out of her way for her to get to the sink.

"That's lucky of them." Antoinette stated causally, though Erik knew she had shot a glance at his covered wrists where scarred skin covered his words.

"My dear, you need to stop worrying about me. I'm fine." Erik stated, giving her a side glance to watch her.

Antoinette shrugged. "I know, but can't blame a friend for being a little sad over your situation."

"No, of course not." Erik replied softly.

They didn't talk about the teens or soulmates for the rest of the day.

Later, Erik had returned to his home tired. He and Antoinette had to do an emergency surgery on a golden retriever who had swallowed something he shouldn't have and it had taken them a while to get the surgery done. It was the last thing they did but the dog came out of it perfectly fine but had to stay overnight. The owners had walked away grateful and happy. One of them was wiping their eyes as they had walked out to the clinic.

Kevin, their temp, said his goodbyes and Erik and Antoinette stayed behind to clean up and make sure their overnight occupants had what they needed. Once they were finished, they closed the clinic and left together. Erik gave his friend a brief peck on her cheek in goodbye and they went their separate ways.

Erik drove home and was startled when he saw the lights on inside but then remembered that he had two new people staying with him.

He got out of his car, unlocked the door, and went inside.

He stepped in and an aroma swept over him, filling his nose through the mask.

Curious, Erik took off his shoes and went straight to the kitchen. The smell getting stronger as he went.

Eventually, he came to his kitchen entrance and poked his head in the doorway.

Inside, both Christine and Raoul were there. Raoul was cutting up meat on the island and there was a small bowl of chopped vegetables next to him and Christine was at the stove, stirring something in a pot.

"Do I want to know if I should be worried that you are cooking?" Erik asked, pulling himself up and stood inside the doorway.

Both teens jumped and turned to see him in the entrance. Both smiled when they spotted him.

"I should probably let you know that Christine over there could burn a pot of water if you left her alone for too long. That's why she's on stir duty." Raoul told him with a cheeky grin.

"Liar." Christine huffed, sending a glare Raoul's way but her cheeks were slightly red.

"I'm really not." Raoul replied earnestly, directing the comment towards Erik.

"Do you know how to cook then, Mr. de Chagny?" Erik questioned, walking into the kitchen and stopping at the island across from Raoul.

The teen's cheeks took on a red tint like Christine's and he dropped his eyes down to the cutting board in front of him.

"Ah, well. I know, I mean I can do…" he began awkwardly but trailed off. The red color spreading from his cheeks to the rest of his face.

"He means yes." Christine chirped from the stove, sending Erik a grin now that Raoul had gotten embarrassed as well.

"We just figured that you would be tired after working and it would be nice for you to come back with a meal ready for you…" Raoul added, the blush still apparent and still refusing to lift his head.

"You are not tired after working you own shifts?" Erik asked, taking a chopped piece of carrot from the bowl and popping it into his mouth.

Raoul had looked up from the movement and stared at him as he chewed then swallowed the carrot. Erik could've sworn that the younger's eyes followed his throat as he swallowed but it was too fast to tell for sure.

"Yes, we're tired, but figured this could be a thank you for letting us stay here in the first place. Is this okay?" Christine answered, not turning back from her spot at the stove this time but Erik could tell that she had stiffened as she waited for his answer.

Erik hummed. He thought the gesture was a lovely one and figured he shouldn't protest them trying to do something nice.

"I never say no to a meal I do not have to cook. Please continue." Erik stated encouragingly.

He saw Christine's shoulders shake a little and heard the faintest giggle. Raoul smiled and straightened, giving Erik a salute.

"Yes sir!"

 **There you go! Hoped you enjoyed it enough to leave a review! Or you can leave one telling me about your thoughts on the videos. Next chapter is in Raoul's POV. See ya.**


	5. Exposed

Exposed

"Okay, whatever force that created the world hates us. I know that now. For some reason we are hated by the universe and I don't know why." Raoul groaned into his pillow, not wanting to breathe because breathing meant consciousness and that was something he was too embarrassed to want right now. He was lying on his bed with Christine sitting at the end of it. He had brought her there so that they could talk because he had really needed it.

"I won't argue with that anymore." Christine agreed. He could feel her tugging and playing with the end of his pajama shorts.

Raoul sat up with a huge sigh and turned around to face her, his legs crisscrossed and held his pillow in his lap and against his chest. He leaned forward then backward then repeated the motion again.

"I mean really. What did we do to deserve this? Did we mess up spectacularly in our past life or something? Did we kill anybody? Or maybe we betrayed someone. Which one do you think would cause a bigger punishment?" he asked dejectedly.

"Okay, now I think you're being a little over dramatic." Christine rolled her eyes.

He tossed his pillow at her, which she caught, to his disappointment. "Well, how would explain the reason why the universe hates us enough to make it this hard on finding out whether Erik is our missing soulmate or not?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong, just that you're being dramatic about it. We could always just ask him if he remembers what he said to us that first night. That'll solve that problem fast." Christine explained with a grin.

"I doubt he'll remember. We didn't. Plus, the man has burn scars where his words should be! How can I not be over dramatic about it? Our missing soulmate could be sleeping couple rooms down right now and we wouldn't know it!" Raoul exclaimed.

"Be quiet, unless you want to wake up said possible soulmate!" Christine shushed him with a scowl.

Raoul grumbled but didn't say anything. He was still overwhelmed by what he had found out.

He had discovered completely by accident that Erik had scars instead of words on his wrists. It was his fault and not planned in the slightest. He had barged into Erik's room without knocking or letting the room occupant know he was coming in. He had been there to ask him if he could drive him to his early shift tomorrow.

He had walked in on the older man in the process of changing.

Raoul had frozen in the doorway, his grip on the door knob tightening in surprise. Erik had obviously just finished washing his hair because it was wet and loose. He was wearing his pants but his shirt was off.

Raoul had to admit that while he believed Erik looked good with his shirt on, he was as good looking, if not more so, without one. He must exercise regularly to have such a defined and muscular chest and arms.

But he noticed something else as well. The very lovely body in front of him also had scars on it. Some larger than others. Some thicker than others. There were a couple that looked painful to have gotten. There weren't a lot but it was enough to notice and it made Raoul wonder how many Erik had in total if this was just his front. At least all of them looked like they were old, nothing recent as far as Raoul could tell. That was good to keep in mind.

There were two that took Raoul the most by surprise. They were the ones that were on Erik's now uncovered wrists. Raoul had never seen Erik without his wrists covered, because he had always wore long sleeve shirts. Raoul wondered if this was the reason for it. Instead of words on his wrists there were twin burn scars that appeared to have healed years ago.

All of this happened in the time span of a couple seconds after Raoul had barged into the room.

Erik's reaction was startled of course, head whipping around to see who was at the door, golden eyes wide. But he spotted Raoul at the entrance and quickly sent him an amused smirk.

"Am I going to have to add barging in to your list of crimes as well? Nadir will not be pleased." He announced, turning away from him. As he spoke he had grabbed his shirt from his bed and put it on, the scarred wrists covered again.

Raoul was disappointed by that because he wanted to get a closer look but became alarmed at the mention of the Iranian cop.

"Please don't." he pleaded, panicked at the idea of seeing the cop again. The man was scary.

"Calm yourself, I was only teasing." Erik assured smoothly and Raoul had to hold back a sigh of relief at the sentence.

"Is there a reason that you've charged into my room? I would hope there's a purpose and also hope this will not be a regular occurrence?"

"No!" Raoul hurried to say, waving the hand that wasn't gripping the doorknob like a lifeline in front of him. "I had wanted to ask you something?"

"Oh? And what would that be?" Erik inquired, tilting his head to the side the slightest bit.

Raoul hesitated, but not for long since he had to tell Christine what he had discovered. "I was wondering if you would give me a ride to my job tomorrow. It's supposed to rain when I have to go."

"I don't see why not. Do you have a way to get back?" Erik agreed.

Raoul nodded. "I usually walk but didn't want to deal with the rain if it happened on the way to work."

Erik nodded but didn't add anything.

"Will that be all then?" he asked a few moments later when Raoul didn't move to leave.

Raoul felt his cheeks heat up, he had been staring at Erik's wrists without realizing it. "Ah, yes! That's it! Thank you, uh, good night!"

"Good night." Erik repeated with a confused frown at Raoul's awkwardness.

Raoul quickly closed the door and wanted to bang his head against it but forced himself not to because that would bring Erik out. He ran to Christine's room a couple doors down and knocked on her door.

She opened it with a yawn that was cut short because Raoul grabbed her arm and pulled her out.

"Hey! What are you—" she started to protest.

"Quiet. I don't want Erik to hear." He cut off, turning back to her with a finger to his lips.

Christine frowned in confusion but followed him willingly. They went to his room and there he had proceeded to tell her what had happened.

So here they were now, both sulking in their realization of their bad luck. Neither one of them spoke for a few minutes but Christine was the one to finally break it.

"You said that he had scars on both his wrists?" she asked suddenly.

"Yeah." Raoul mumbled.

"Can't we see that as another possibility of it being him? I mean, not a lot of people have two soulmates, and the only ones we've met with two are each other. Now Erik comes along and he has two soulmates and after we meet him our words go white. Tell me you don't think it's only a coincidence?" Christine pointed out.

"Sure that would be one heck of a coincidence, but even if we were sure, which we're not, we don't have a way to prove it to Erik because the proof was apparently burned off years ago." Raoul countered.

"Why do you think that is?" Christine asked thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side and her long curls swinging with the movement.

"What? Why he has the burn marks?" Raoul questioned. Christine nodded and he shrugged. "I don't know. There could be many reasons why."

"Do you think…?" Christine trailed off softly, biting her lip. "Do you think it's because he doesn't want to meet his soulmates? So he got rid of the thing that would tell him when he met them?"

"Whoa, Christine. I think you're being pessimistic about this. You're assuming that Erik would do something like that to himself? Isn't that a little crazy?" Raoul hinted.

She continued to bite her lip but after a couple moments relaxed. "Okay, yeah, that does sound a little crazy." She sighed.

"It was probably an accident from his childhood. I'm sure he wants to meet them like everyone else." Raoul assured.

"Yeah, an accident." Christine nodded as if to reinforce the statement. She sent him a weak smile. "Sorry. Guess I'm a little nervous about this whole thing."

"It's okay. I'm nervous too." Raoul assured her.

He didn't want to tell her that he was almost positive that Erik's burned wrists hadn't been an accident.

The burns were much too clean and proportionate for it too have happened by chance.

"Erik can we see your face?" Raoul had asked off hand as they were eating dinner one night.

Christine choked on her drink and Erik gave him a look of disbelief.

"Why on earth would I show you my face? You certainly did not have the most gracious reactions the first time." Erik stated.

Raoul shrugged. "First of all, it was night and we were startled and scared about having been caught. Second, because after going through my memories, I don't think it could be that bad."

"You obviously have faulty memories." Erik declared. He stood up from his chair, picked up his dishes and went into the kitchen to put them in the dishwasher.

Christine glared at him but he ignored it and got up to follow Erik.

"Please? I promise we won't scream." Raoul clasped his hands in front of him in a begging motion.

"Why does it even matter to you what I look like?" Erik demanded.

Because if you're our soulmate, I want to know what's underneath that mask, he thought.

"I promise to not be annoying for a whole week if you do." Raoul offered instead.

"I find it doubtful that you could last a day, let alone a week." Erik deadpanned.

"Ouch." Raoul stated, clutching his chest where his heart is as if he's been injured.

Erik rolled his eyes.

"Come on! Please!" Raoul implored, stressing out the 'please' for a few seconds.

Erik looked behind him where Christine was still in the dining room. "Do you think he will give up if I ignore him?"

"Nope!" Raoul chirped but Christine answered too.

"I think that would make him more unbearable." She confirmed, and Raoul nodded.

He could tell Erik was breaking.

"Do you wish to see this face as well?" He asked Christine again, gesturing towards his face underneath the mask.

Christine hesitated in her answer. "I wouldn't disagree to it if you were willing."

"I'm not." Erik stated firmly, but then shook his head. "If either of you have a bad reaction that is on you and you have to do all the chores for the next week. Without complaining."

"Fine by me!" Raoul agreed eagerly. He heard Christine stand up and come over to where Erik and Raoul were and stood by Raoul.

Erik sighed. "I cannot believe I am doing this." He mumbled but reached towards his mask.

He paused as he touched the bottom rim of the mask. He stayed like that for a couple moments but then slowly pulled the mask off.

Erik's face was about the same as Raoul remembered, but in more detail because they had first seen his face in the dark so had only gotten a general look. It was nothing like Raoul had ever seen before, at least, not outside something that had come out of the makeup room He heard Christine breathe in sharply next to him but other than that didn't have another visible reaction.

"Let's see. No signs of fainting. That is good news." Erik noted coolly as he stared back at them, observing their reactions. "Extra credit for no visible signs of horror. I'm impressed."

"You look like someone from one of those sci-fi gory movies." Raoul breathed out.

Erik snorted then shake of his head. He lifted the mask up. "Had your fill?"

"Wait!" Christine stopped him. She stepped closer and reached out until she was inches from Erik's face. "Does it hurt?" She asked with a concern frown.

Erik grinned and there was a light sparkle in the gold eyes. Raoul felt his heart skip a beat at how it made the older man's face softer.

"No, Miss Daae. It has never hurt me." He reassured her.

Raoul was not used to seeing such an expressive Erik. The mask always hid a lot of Erik's thoughts and emotions and Raoul had gotten used to that. He never thought about how Erik could've have been this expressive the entire time, but he just hadn't been able to see it.

Raoul had to admit that he liked the unmasked Erik.

 **The unmasking part wasn't originally there. I had actually finished the story before realizing that I didn't have a moment where Erik shows them his face so it was put in this chapter. Hope my readers enjoyed it. Leave me a review!**

 **I'm disappointed that no one reviewed to talk about the videos I put up, even after the second set of instructions. My readers don't have to make my favorite phantom their favorite, I had just thought that if there was one place I would get to share that with others, this would be it. Anyway, see ya next time.**


	6. Hearing an Angel

Hearing an Angel

Erik heard it one morning as he was getting ready to go to the clinic. He had gotten dressed and opened his bedroom door. A sound made him stop in his tracks.

It was a voice but not an ordinary voice. Nothing like he has ever heard before.

It was the voice of an angel.

Erik's head tilted and eyes closed unconsciously, trying to listen and hear each individual note.

He blinked a few times when the voice stopped, bringing him back into focus.

Now that the voice was no longer singing, Erik could make out the sound of the shower running down the hall.

The voice had been Christine's.

Erik blinked again at realizing this and walked into the kitchen in a partial daze. He saw Raoul there at the island, dressed for work and eating a bowl of cereal.

Raoul waved tiredly upon seeing him.

"Morning." He yawned and took another bite of his cereal.

Erik shook his head in amusement at the younger and went to the island across from him and plucked an orange from the fruit bowl.

"Tired?" he teased and started to peel the orange.

"I have no idea how you adults do this every day for years on end. It's terrible." Raoul groaned, slouching over his bowl.

"Getting paid helps." Erik admitted and found it humorous when that just earned him another moan from the younger.

"It also helps that I'm working at my own place and doing what I love." Erik continued. He finished peeling the orange and tore a slice away and took a bite. "Working at a burger joint doesn't sound like your life passion so I understand your reluctance."

That got him a glare from Raoul, who did it by looking up at him from under his eyelashes. "Not funny."

Erik smirked. "It is a little funny. We all got to pay our dues in working in a minimum wage miserable job. This is your time."

Raoul straightened with a look of disbelief. "You worked at a fast food place? No way."

"No I did not." He confessed, taking another orange slice. "I was one of the lucky ones that did not have to do such a thing."

"What did you do?" Raoul asked suspicious.

"I have always been good with my hands and as a result was able to land a job working in my high school's tech department." Erik explained, noting the younger's eyes briefly went to his lips after he had licked them to get the juice off.

Curious boy, he thought but paid it no further mind.

"I could do something like that." Raoul declared excitedly.

"No, you actually could not." Erik commented. "That was the time I was in high school and they have long since made laws that prevent students from working a paying job in schools."

Raoul instantly went back to slouching.

"Damn it." He grumbled dejectedly. He had finished his bowl of cereal and went to the sink and rinsed it out.

"It will be over before you know it." Erik assured him. "If I may ask, what are you planning on doing after you graduated?"

"Oh college, definitely." Raoul replied immediately, turning to face him and leaned against the sink. "I want to go into business finance. I have always been good with numbers."

"Where?" Erik probed. He took his last slice out and picked up the peel remains.

"Probably going to do community college here first then transfer over." Erik could feel the younger's eyes follow him as he went to throw the peel away. Erik turned and saw that he was correct, Raoul's eyes were focused on him and continued to be as he walked back.

"That's practical of you." Erik hummed.

Raoul shrugged. "Have to be when you don't have a lot."

Erik wanted to say something about that but stopped himself. It wasn't his place. Instead, he decided to change the direction. "And Miss Daae? Do you know of her plans?"

Raoul's face brighten. "She wants to go to college and study performing arts! She's going to be a singer!"

"Interesting." Though Erik wasn't surprised. Not after what he had just heard. "Has she had any proper training for her voice?"

Raoul nodded. "Some, but that was when we were kids."

Erik figured as much.

"But, she's really great!" Raoul gushed, a large smile on his face. "She's nervous about doing her auditions to get into the programs but I don't think she has anything to worry about."

"Stop it Raoul, you're making me blush." Christine shushed as she walked into the kitchen, also wearing her work uniform and her hair damp.

"Well you don't and you know it!" Raoul exclaimed.

"No I don't." Christine countered firmly. "There's plenty of people who are more talented than me and get rejected. Never think you have something until you get it."

Raoul rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Erik glanced down at his watch and took note of the time. He wasn't running late but should be getting ready to head out to make sure he wasn't.

"This was an informative chat but I best be going now. I will be seeing you both tonight." He stated. He looked back up and saw both teens looking at him.

No, not him. His wrist.

He purposely put his hand back down slowly, watching as their eyes followed the movement for a second then turning away like they haven't been staring before.

Erik's eyebrows furrowed down in confusion.

Curious indeed, he thought as he left the kitchen. He could feel two pairs of eyes as he went.

"I think the two know about my marks." Erik announced later that day during lunch with Nadir and Antoinette. He had wanted to talk to Antoinette before their break but figured he should postpone until he had both Nadir and her with him. And since he knew that they planned to have today's lunch together, he made himself wait.

They had taken separate cars. Erik went with Nadir in his police car but Antoinette refused to get in.

"The only time I ever want to be in a police car is if I get arrested, which will not happen so that'll be never." Antoinette had told them one time after he had asked her why she didn't ride with them.

He and Nadir respected her wishes.

Today, they went to a healthier place to eat. Nadir had grumbled as they pulled in but didn't openly complain about the choice.

They had order, received them, and went to a booth. Erik on one side, Antoinette and Nadir on the other.

Both of his friends gave him eyebrow raises for his announcement.

"What makes you say that?" Antoinette asked, being the first to break the silence.

Erik shrugged. "Maybe I'm only being paranoid, but lately I have caught them a few times taking looks or outright staring at my wrists. At first I ignored it, believing it to be a coincidence, but it has happened more times to be such."

"Was there ever a time that they might have been able to see them? You always have them covered after all." Nadir questioned.

Erik began shaking his head. "Not that I can think of."

He paused and thought back the past couple weeks. He couldn't think of a moment…

"Oh!" Erik straightened in realization, remembering an incident that had occurred last week. "Mr. de Chagny might have seen them."

"When?" Antoinette probed.

"He had walked into my room one night while I was changing." Erik sighed. He saw the wide eyes of his friends and hurried to add, "I was dressed for the most part. The only thing off was my shirt."

"And therefore, your wrists weren't covered." Antoinette concluded and Erik nodded. "Why did he go in your room in the first place?"

"He wanted to ask for a ride to his job. Good thing he did too because it was pouring out when I had to take him." Erik answered.

"Insolent boy. Can't even knock before entering a bedroom." Nadir scolded. He let out a grunt because Antoinette elbowed him.

"Be nice." She told him firmly then turned back to Erik. "I will say it's possible that he saw, and it's likely that he told Miss Daae as well, but why would they care?"

"Curiosity probably." Nadir answered, pointing at Erik. "Not a lot of people got marks like that. Ones that cover someone's words completely. They want to know the story behind it, maybe see if you know what your words are."

"Yes, maybe, but sadly I do not know what they are. They have been lost to me since I was a child." Erik pointed out.

Nadir shrugged. "They don't know that."

Erik had to give him that.

"Still," Erik began, sitting back in the booth. "Their behavior is most curious. I'm surprise they do not ask me directly, but instead try and fail to go about it in a sly way."

"Maybe they are nervous to bring it up." Antoinette countered. "Words are a private thing for the most part. Maybe they think it's a sensitive topic for you and do not wish to bring up any bad memories."

"Considering that they have previously done things that are considered insensitive, like breaking the law for one, I find that hard to believe." Nadir argued. Erik smirked when that only got the older another jab in the gut by the Madame.

"Hush and eat your lunch." She instructed the cop. Nadir gave her a side glance, which she met head on. The two stared at one another but Nadir was the one to break away. He went back to his lunch.

"What are you planning to do?" Antoinette asked Erik.

"Nothing I suppose. If they want to know, they will ask. Until then, I do not see why I should just offer them the information because I noticed that they are curious." He answered.

She nodded. "Sounds fair. Though who knows how long that will take."

Erik shrugged. "That is their problem, not mine."

Erik was grateful that he had waited to tell them his dilemma at the same time. He didn't doubt they could have given him good advice by themselves, but they worked off each other when they were together, which Erik has found to give him the best results.

"Change of topic, but can you watch Meg in a couple weeks, that Saturday night? Or do you have plans made already?" Antoinette asked him.

"You know I do not." He replied, knowing that she knew he never went out on a Saturday night.

She smiled at him, clapping her hands together once. "Oh good. So you will do it?"

"Sure. May I ask why the need for me to watch over her?"

"I will have you know that I have a date!" Antoinette gushed.

Erik raised his eyebrow, though it was covered by his mask. He was happy for his friend, it had taken her years to stop mourning the death of her husband and soulmate, who had died at sea when one of his Navy missions had gone wrong. One can never truly get over the death of a soulmate, but they can still live their lives, happy if not content.

"Does Meg know about this?" he questioned.

"Well…" Antoinette trailed off with a weak smile and that was answer enough for him. He partly didn't blame her though. Meg has not been too welcoming of the idea of her mother dating again.

"That was obviously a no." Nadir stated.

Antoinette huffed. "Fine. No, I have not told her. Yet. But I will!"

"When? As you are dropping her off at my place?" Erik teased.

"No!" she exclaimed, then forced herself to take a deep breath with her eyes closed. She opened them again and zeroed in on Erik. "Look, I will tell her when I want to and neither of you will tell her beforehand. Understand?"

"Okay, yes." Erik agreed, putting his hands up in surrender. "We will not say anything to young Meg."

Antoinette made sure to get Nadir to agree as well and he quickly did.

That night, after Erik had gotten back from work and eaten dinner with Christine and Raoul, he had excused himself and went to his basement door. He unlocked the door and walked down the stairs.

He got to the bottom and turned on the light switch, revealing the room. The room was a simple one, one that was fit to be used as a room instead of just a storage space.

The walls were dark and there were lamps attached along the walls. Erik had a few boxes in one corner but that was because the items inside had no place to be other than this room.

However, it was what sat in the middle of the room that was the most important and the reason why Erik had come down there.

He walked over to the large item that was covered in a drape to protect it. He grabbed the drape and threw it off the item.

In front of him, stood a large grand piano in all its glory. Still as beautiful as the last time he has seen it.

Erik smiled. "Hello, old friend."

 **So now Erik's suspicious of his two young roommates, but did you expect anything less? Plus, of course I couldn't take music away from Erik's character, it's** _ **Erik**_ **! Anyway, next chapter is going to be in Christine's POV and hope my readers enjoyed this enough to leave a review! See ya next time.**


	7. Realizations

Realizations

Erik was giving Christine singing lessons.

She had been thrown off by the random offer and a little skeptical that he could help since he was a vet.

Erik ripped away any doubts in her mind very quickly.

He had taken her down to his basement, a place that she has never been in before and didn't give it much thought.

Apparently she should have because the dim room held inside of it a beautiful grand piano at its center.

She, of course, expressed her doubt, how could she not. Erik even admitted that he hasn't play in a while but as he told her this he had ran his fingertips over the uncovered keys like they were an old friend. The gentle grin on his lips as he did made Christine give it a chance.

Christine asked him to play something for her and he did.

And what music he played!

She partly felt that the whole 'having not played in a long time' was a lie, but she put that thought from her mind because Erik would have had no reason to lie to her.

He played like he had never stopped playing, his hands moving along and his fingers pressing the keys down when he wanted them to sing. The rhythm was fast paced and powerful, it made Christine's heart race as she listened to it. The music was also not something she has ever heard in her experience and she has listened to a lot of things!

By the time Erik finished playing, her whole body felt warm, and her lungs were out of air. She gasped as silence engulfed the room, which for her also seemed like she had never heard such a complete quiet atmosphere.

Her heart was still pounding in her chest, her lungs still out of breath as Erik focused his golden eyes on her once more.

He was grinning, pleased with himself.

"As I said, I have not played in a while, but will get back my form. Now, shall we get started?"

Christine immediately answered with a "yes."

They couldn't practice every day, and it was mostly because of Christine's work schedule. While she tries to get the morning shifts so that she could have free afternoons and evenings, that didn't always work out. Erik, of course, had a set schedule since he owned the place where he worked.

Still they have practiced when they could and Christine has never felt as alive as during the times she is singing under Erik's instruction.

She couldn't explain the feeling better than that. Feeling _alive_! After every practice, she was tired yet energized and she felt like she could sing forever if that was Erik's wish. She knew she would try to do it too, if he would ask and it was him playing. She could tell she was getting better and had Erik to thank for that. He had awaken in her a new wave of passion for singing that she hadn't felt previously and she never wanted to give such a thing up.

She has also learned a few things about Erik himself. Such as the fact that not only does he play the piano, but also a variety of instruments that include the organ and violin. He has written multiple pieces of music, one of which was what he had played for her on the first day, and that he had a love for musicals. She learned that he was a ventriloquist, able to throw his voice around the room and speak perfectly clear without moving his mouth. She made him show her that and he complied, speaking to her for the remainder of the lesson from the furthest corner of the room while he sat only a few feet away from her. He has also told her he could sing, but has yet to demonstrate that particular talent.

She had asked why and she could have sworn that if it wasn't for the mask, she would have been able to see that he was blushing.

"My voice is…not like most voices." He had told her softly from his spot on the piano bench with her standing a few feet away next to the body of the piano.

"What do you mean?" she probed. "It's not bad is it?"

Erik's lips twitched, as if fighting a grin. "No, Miss Daae, I can assure you that people whom I have let hear my voice have found it pleasant. However, it has a soothing factor when I want it to be. It can have quite the effect on some people."

"Oh, that was just vague enough that it only made me more curious. I want to hear it!" Christine had teased. "Come on, please?"

But Erik had shaken his head and had moved the lesson along.

It had taken a week for Raoul to find out about the lessons in the basement. Christine hadn't exactly been keeping it from him, but never purposely brought it up either. Plus, he usually worked the afternoon to evening shift and as a result, by the time he got back, Erik would have concluded their lesson. And when Raoul finished work and would come back in the afternoons, those were always the days that Christine couldn't do her practice because of her shift.

It was a week into their practices that Raoul had gotten off one day in the afternoon instead of the evening and was there when Christine took Erik aside for them to do their lesson.

Raoul had heard her sing and had followed the sound into he came upon them in the basement.

Christine could tell that he was startled by Erik's presence and being the one giving her instructions as she sang and he play the piano. But Erik let his own talent do the talking and Raoul was obviously impressed by what he saw and heard.

Though he had complained to her while they were alone in her room that same night that she was taking all of Erik's attention. But he had told her this with a grin so she didn't think he minded that much. She told him everything she had learned about Erik and Raoul ended up asking Erik to show him the ventriloquism over dinner one night.

Christine had known that Erik had one eyebrow raise underneath his mask as Raoul asked him, and sent a glance her way. She had shrugged in reply and Erik made Raoul's fork talk.

On another note, neither Raoul nor Christine could work up the courage to ask Erik about his burned wrists. And as the days went by it became apparent that it mattered less and less.

Sure they wanted to know, for the sake of knowing and being positive, but Christine could tell both of them were already half-way gone, maybe even more than that.

They had agreed to live with Erik knowing that he might turn out to be their missing partner and the purpose of being with him was to find out just that. Obviously, that was complicated by the fact that Erik's words were burned off but the fact that he had two made her and Raoul more confident in their guess. Though they wanted to know for everyone's sack, it wouldn't do to fall completely only to have that ripped away.

However, both of them were complete cowards and haven't said anything about it to Erik.

Two weeks passed and Raoul and Christine were sulking because of their lack of progress towards the marks, though they tried to hide it from Erik as much as possible. It wouldn't do to have him suspicious over anything.

They were certainly caught off guard by Erik though.

The Friday of that second week since Christine began taking lessons from Erik, he had dropped the announcement that his friend's daughter was going to spend the evening with them.

Raoul had instantly questioned whether or not it was the kid of the cop friend and Erik replied that with a negative. That brought the younger two relief until Erik explained that it's the daughter of his friend whose house they had broken into.

That took away whatever relief they were feeling in a second.

The next day came way too rapidly and went by even faster. The one time she would've been okay with an evening shift and she doesn't get it.

On the plus side, neither did Raoul.

Before Christine knew it, the doorbell to Erik's front door was ringing and she felt Raoul stiffen on the couch beside her.

Erik came down from the hallway and smirked at them as he took in their stiff postures. He walked past them, went to the door and opened it with a smile.

"Madame, Meg." He greeted, waving the two inside.

"Hi Erik!" A young girl, maybe ten or eleven, with long blonde hair and a rosy cheeks replied with a beaming smile.

"Erik." A woman about Erik's age walked in with the grace of a dancer, her long hair in a braid and a grin on her lips.

Erik greeted her by kissing her cheek and then pulled back to gesture towards Christine and Raoul on the couch.

Why did he do that?! She thought, panicking as three pairs of eyes settled on them.

"Antoinette. Meg. This is Miss Daae and Mr. de Chagny. Miss Daae. Mr. de Chagny. This is Madame Giry and her daughter Meg." Erik introduced.

"Ah, the two failed delinquents you brought into your home after they had broken into mine and mugged you." Mme. Giry acknowledged with one nod.

Christine very much wanted the couch to swallow her whole. That way she wouldn't be in this situation.

Erik rolled his eyes. "Key word to that sentence, Madame, is _failed_. I stopped them the first time. Nadir helped me catch them the second."

Meg was looking at her and Raoul with wide eyes, which didn't help Christine get any more relaxed.

"Now, go on, or you'll be late for your—"

"Meeting! Yes, I know!" Mme. Giry interrupted Erik hurriedly.

Christine watched Erik scowled at the Madame and she sent him back a weak grin. Erik then shook his head in exasperation, but walked her back to the door. Christine frowned at the interaction.

That was weird, she thought.

The door opened then closed again. Erik entered the room rubbing the back of his head with a sigh.

"Everything okay?" Meg asked.

"Oh, yes!" Erik stated, quickly put his hand down and smiled at the girl. "Your mother will have something to say to you after she picks you up, that's all."

Meg pouted. "Can't you just tell me?"

"Ah, it is not my place to tell you." Erik denied. He gently pushed her towards Raoul and Christine. "Go on and get to know Mr. de Chagny and Miss Daae. I'm sure they are eager to get to know you."

Christine sent him a glare over Meg as the girl shuffled towards them. She knew that Raoul was doing the same next to her.

Erik only smirked and went into the kitchen.

"Ah," Christine's attention was brought back to Meg. She opened her mouth then closed it. She was starting at them with a suspicious squint of her eyes, not that Christine could blame her. "You're the two who broke in, huh?"

"Yes. And we are sorry that we did." Christine apologized. "We were sort of desperate but plan on never doing it again."

"Though we're not completely sorry." Raoul added and Christine stared at him in horror, because what the heck?! Raoul saw her look and shrugged. "What? We would have never met Erik if we didn't."

Christine supposed she could give him that, seeing as it was true. If they had never broken in to the Madame's house that Erik had house sat, they wouldn't have failed and that meant that they wouldn't have felt the need to mugged a person, which ended up being Erik again.

"You both…" Meg trailed off with a small frown in confusion. "You like Erik?"

"He's everything we wanted and needed." Christine confessed and then straighten, her cheeks flushed at realizing what she said.

Meg's eyes widened and she looked at her then glanced at Raoul. Christine didn't know what she saw but figured it was a good thing because she smiled.

"You love him!" she exclaimed in excitement and Raoul lunged forward to press his finger to her lips.

"Shh, shh!" Raoul shushed in alarm.

Christine shot a glance at the kitchen door entrance but only heard the sounds of Erik moving around. He didn't sound like he heard anything. Maybe he had his headphones on. Sometimes he liked to listen to music while he was doing chores.

Either way, he didn't come in to question what Meg had said.

Christine nodded to Raoul and he took his finger away from Meg's lips. The girl tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What? Is it a secret?" she asked.

Raoul looked at Christine and she met his eyes with her own.

She thought about Erik and everything he has done for them. Everything he had willingly offered and has not asked for anything in return. His kindness, creativeness, intelligence and passion.

She saw a change in Raoul's eyes and knew that they had the same answer to Meg's question.

"Yes," Christine answered, breaking away from Raoul's eyes to smile at Meg. She knew that her answer was for her question and acknowledging her earlier statement.

They have fallen for Erik. Without having realizing it and without the push of knowing each other's words.

 **And…there it is! Not a confession yet but its progress. Hoped you enjoyed the chapter enough to review! Next one is going to be in Erik's POV. See ya next time!**


	8. Fever Offer Chance for Bravery

Fever Offer Chance for Bravery

"Really, Mr. de Chagny, you should have been paying more attention to your health." Erik sighed as he opened the door to the younger's room.

The bed that is currently being occupied by a feverish Raoul who has been running a fever since yesterday evening. Erik had been woken up this morning by a knock on his door, he put on his mask then went to answer it.

A worried Christine was on the other side and she had told him that Raoul's fever had not gone down from the previous night when the boy had went to bed early because he had felt tired.

Christine had checked on him before she had gone to bed and found him groaning and hot to touch. She had immediately gotten Erik who had taken his temperature and discovered it to be 102 degrees. Erik had gone to the kitchen to bring Raoul water and on the way back got a washcloth wet and medicine. Christine made Raoul drink the water and take the medicine as Erik held him up in a sitting position. After he finished the water, Erik placed him back down and placed the washcloth on Raoul's forehead.

Since there was not much they could do, Erik made Christine go to bed and wait to see if Raoul would be better in the morning.

Christine waking him up the next morning confirmed that it didn't happen. If anything, Raoul's fever had gotten worse and was at 104 degrees the moment Erik checked.

Erik called the burger joint Raoul and Christine worked at and called in sick for Raoul. He then call Antoinette and told her that he wouldn't be able to come in. That had taken longer than the previous call.

"What? Why? You never miss a day of work unless _I_ have to force you to do it." She stated over the phone and Erik rubbed his forehead.

"Yes, well, Mr. de Chagny is sick and someone has to stay and take care of him, his fever is not high enough to pay a visit to the hospital but there has to be someone here to do that in case it's needed." Erik explained, dropping his hand to his side.

He heard his friend hum over the phone. "Okay. I'll take care of things here. Luckily, we have no surgeries schedule for today, only check-ups. Though people are not going to be happy about the longer waits because we are missing the other vet."

Erik grinned. "I had to manage the clinic without you for two weeks. I think you will be fine."

They hung up shortly after.

It also took a little bit of time to convince Christine to go to her shift for work.

"I want to help take care of him." She had argued the moment he had suggested she start getting ready for work.

"You cannot call in sick too. Your employer knows the two of you are living together. It might make the sick call seem like a call in for a free day." Erik pointed out.

Christine had argued with him more but eventually gave in reluctantly. She got ready for work as Erik went to the main bathroom to run a cold bath for Raoul. Hopefully, it will bring his temperature down to something that didn't border a trip to the hospital. Christine soon left and Erik walked back to Raoul's bedroom where he now was.

Raoul groaned at him in reply and cracked his eyes open. "I need the money. Got to pay for college somehow."

"I do not believe working this many hours that result in you losing a day or more will help with that." Erik countered.

Raoul sighed and Erik walked over to him. Gently, he grabbed the younger's hands, which were hot to touch, and pulled him slowly into a sitting position.

"We need to get you cooled off to drop that fever." Erik whispered.

"What? Are you going to put me in the fridge?" Raoul mumbled.

"Why on earth would you think of something like that?" Erik asked, genuinely curious because it was such an odd remark. He lifted Raoul to stand up and kept hold of his hands as he led him out of his room. Raoul was weak enough that he had to walk slowly, but was still able to walk on his own, for the most part.

"I don't know. Ignore it. My head is being fried today like the burgers at my job." Raoul replied softly.

"I would not go that far yet, but let's see if this will help." Erik stated and brought Raoul into the main bathroom, where the tub was filled with cold water.

Raoul stopped in his tracks as he spotted the tub. "You want me to take a bath?"

Erik frowned at the reaction. "Not a full one. Lying in it should do the trick. Plus it will get rid of the sweat on you, which you need."

"Are—are you going to be…" Raoul started awkwardly but didn't finished the sentence.

"Am I what?" Erik questioned looking at Raoul carefully. The younger's face seems to have gotten the slightest bit redder.

"Are you going to be here as I do it?" Raoul choked out.

"Ah, no. I had planned on changing your sheets while you cooled off." Erik answered, wondering why that was such a hard thing to ask him.

Raoul started to nod but quickly stopped and clenched his head. "Whoa, don't nod, that was a bad idea. Yeah, okay."

"Take your time in getting in. It should take me about ten minutes to get you sheets changed. I'll check on you once I'm done. Call if you need any assistance." Erik stated, pulling Raoul into the bathroom enough that he could get through the door.

"Okay." Raoul answered and stared at the tub like it was his greatest enemy.

Erik nodded and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He went to Raoul's room and yanked off all the sheets that was now covered in cold sweat. As he was bundling all them up he heard a loud curse from down the hall, but no noise that would have told Erik that Raoul had slipped or fell.

He must be getting in then. Erik smirked because the water was cold after all.

He hurried to the laundry room and tossed the sheets into the basket for him to do later and then went to the linen closet to get fresh sheets. He walked back to Raoul's room with the fresh ones in his arms and then made the younger's bed.

It took about the time Erik believed it would. Once he was done he went back to the bathroom to help Raoul back to his room.

He knocked. "Are you done in there?" he asked but received no answer.

He tried knocking again but didn't get a reply. He opened the door and found Raoul in the tub but asleep.

"Now, that's not dangerous at all." Erik sighed under his breath and went to him. He crouched next to the tub and put his hand on Raoul's forehead. His temperature seemed to have gone down, but he couldn't stay in the tub forever.

"Wake up." Erik whispered, poking Raoul's cheek for the heck of it.

"Wha…" Raoul's eyes blinked slowly open and met Erik's eyes.

Raoul's eyes widened in shocked and he jerked back, not that he got far since he was in a tub. His face went red and his knees bent upwards as if to cover as much as possible. Though Erik had a feeling it was to cover something specific. He found that amusing because Erik had been facing Raoul's upper body in the first place so didn't have the position to look at what Raoul had hid.

Funny boy. Like I care about such things. Erik thought as he stood up from his crouching stance.

"I did not see anything if you are concern. Even if I did, it is just another body part, Mr. de Chagny. There is no reason to be embarrassed." Erik stated firmly as he grabbed the towel and helped Raoul stand.

"Wow, that's…I don't know what to say to that." Raoul replied slowly as he stood gradually. "Very clinical of you, I guess."

Erik shrugged, unfolding the towel for Raoul's sake and for him to grab, which he did and wrapped it around his lower half. He took Erik's offered hand and stepped out of the tub and onto the rug.

"Why is it that I heard a hint of disappointment in that tone?"

Raoul gawked at him. "What?! No I swear! I didn't mean—"

"Calm yourself, I was only joking." Erik cut in.

Raoul glared at him. "Not funny."

"It is a little funny." Erik replied with a smile. "You certainly seem more lively then earlier. Feeling any better?"

Raoul paused at that than gave him a look of comprehension. "You know what? Yeah, I do feel sort of better. Feeling tired and weak but not as badly."

Erik nodded and started to lead Raoul back to his bedroom. "Good. And it's to be expected that you do not feel completely better, the baths help bring down the fever but they do not heal you completely."

Raoul sighed. "I hate being sick."

Erik sent him a smirk. "Don't we all."

Erik left Raoul alone in his room to get changed and he went into the kitchen to get Raoul something to drink and more medicine. By the time he got back Raoul was mostly dressed, only having his shirt missing. He was sitting on the side of his bed with his feet planted on the floor.

"It seems like we are in the opposite positions from the last time this has happened." Erik noted out loud. He placed the water on Raoul's night stand and kneeled in front of Raoul.

"What do you mean?" Raoul asked, taking the medicine Erik gave him and drank it. Shuddering as he swallowed, he let out a "bleh!" from the taste.

"I remember another time when a certain someone in this room came into the other's room unannounced and found them in a similar undressed state." Erik explained, grabbing the shirt Raoul had not yet put on.

"Oh that." Raoul's cheeks turned pink. "One of us wasn't sick though, so you have a better reason then I did."

"Still, I find the parallel amusing." Erik stated. "Put you shirt on."

Raoul groaned. "It's too hot to put one on!" he complained, leaning away from the shirt like it was a deadly animal.

Erik rolled his eyes but didn't argue. If Raoul was feeling hot instead of cold that means his fever was going down. He made to stand but Raoul took hold of his wrists and pulled at them until they faced upwards in between them.

"Why do you have burn marks?" Raoul asked suddenly serious.

Erik blinked at him. The teen finally had enough courage to ask and it was probably only because he was sick. But he had asked.

"Incident from when I was a child. Long time ago, I cannot say I even remember the event." He answered, not fighting the teen's gripped. He knew he could break it if he wished to.

"These burns are way too balanced to have been a coincidence." Raoul replied skeptical.

"Yes, well. I do not have the luxury of remembering what had happened. I go with what I had been told." Erik explained.

The grip on his wrist tightened, taking Erik by surprise.

"And what were you told?" Raoul probed.

Erik raised his eyebrow, even though it couldn't be seen. Curious boy he is, Erik thought.

"I turned five and got my words like everyone else. However, my mother did not like the fact that I was to have two soulmates when hers had left her alone to take care of me. She had taken it upon herself to burn the marks off." Erik told him calmly.

Raoul's eyes widen and he let go of his wrists.

"No way." He whispered in disbelief.

"I'm afraid not." Erik stood and made his way to the door.

"Wait!" Raoul called out. Erik paused but didn't turn around. "Do you remember what the words were?"

"Not in the slightest." He informed the younger.

"But you do have them. Don't you want to meet them someday?"

Erik turned his head back. The teen sure was bolder while he was sick.

"Yes, of course. Though I also hope they are soulmates with each other as well."

"Why?" Raoul asked, having not moved from his spot.

"I suppose it would make things easier considering what I am." Erik answered.

"And what's that?" Raoul questioned.

"Getting far into personal affairs are you not?" Erik countered. Raoul shrugged and Erik continued. "I'm asexual."

Raoul frowned. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that when I told you that certain parts of the body are _only_ body parts, I meant it. There was nothing clinical about it. I do not have any desire towards the flesh whatsoever. Male or female." Erik explained. "Having two soulmates gives me hope that being asexual would not be a problem to them since they would have each other to do such acts with."

Erik turned around to face Raoul and headed back to the bed. Raoul opened his mouth to ask another question but Erik cut him off by pushing him gently but firmly enough to force him to lie down.

"Enough questions. You need to rest." He instructed resolutely.

Raoul went down, but captured Erik's hand in both of his.

"I'll sleep if you sing to me."

Nadir was right, he is an insolent boy, Erik thought, having to lean forward because of Raoul's hold on his hand. He stared down at the younger, who was staring back up at him with a determined frown.

Eventually, Erik sighed in defeat, knowing that Miss Daae was going to be upset with him when she found out that he sung for Raoul but not her. He wouldn't tell her but he knew that Raoul definitely wouldn't keep it to himself. The two have been trying to get him to sing for the past few weeks after all.

"Fine, lie down properly and give me back my hand." Erik told Raoul.

Raoul shot him a triumphant grin and did as he instructed.

Erik sat down on the bed where Raoul had been sitting and thought about what he could sing that'll put Raoul to sleep. Remembering a song he had written years ago he started to sing softly.

 _Wandering child,  
So lost, so helpless  
Yearning for some guidance._

 _Angel or family  
Friend or phantom  
Who will be there, staring?  
Its there, or_

 _Have you forgotten your Angel?_

 _Angel, shall speak  
What endless longings  
Echo in this whisper!_

Raoul was asleep by the time Erik finished the lyric he was on. He only got half-way through but didn't mind that the younger had fallen asleep before it was finished.

In the end, it was made to be a lullaby.

Erik stood up slowly to not disturb the sleeping teen and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

 **This was originally supposed to be in Christine's POV but then I had thought of the bath scene and it changed to Raoul. Worked out for the best I think. Raoul is the type to ask such questions of Erik, using his fever as an excuse. So now they know what happened to Erik's marks and Raoul found out a lot about Erik! Next chapter will be in Raoul's POV. Hope my readers enjoyed it and will leave a review! See ya next time!**


	9. Behind the Burn Marks

Behind the Burn Marks

Raoul had a fantastic time telling Christine that Erik had sung for him. Sure he had fallen asleep during it but it doesn't change the fact that he got the older man to sing before Christine could.

She threw a huge fit!

She had gotten back from her shift at work and had come in to check on him. He had woken up and saw her coming into his room. He had felt weak and tired but not as much as earlier and he was pretty sure his fever had broken.

"Feeling better?" she had asked in concern, coming to stand over him next to his bed.

He gave her a smirk. "Oh yeah, plenty. Erik sung me to sleep and I was out like a light."

Christine's concern had turn to irritation real fast and Raoul enjoyed watching the outburst. She ranted and accused but he thought she was mostly frustrated with herself since she didn't think of him doing that ahead of time.

Eventually, she calmed down, Erik never showed his face even though Christine had gotten loud at a couple points. Raoul thought that it was smart of him, he must have known what had caused the episode and decided to stay well away since he was the one who did the act.

Christine collapsed on the bed, sitting where Raoul's waist was, having spent her energy for the outburst.

"Want me to tell you about it?" he offered, but Christine shook her head.

"I want to hear it in all its glory." She replied. "I want to hear it without having another's opinion on it that might influence my impression."

Raoul could understand that, he was certainly glad that he had no prior knowledge of what Erik's voice sounded like. Because damn! He never knew that a voice could be that smooth, almost like velvet. It had washed over him the moment Erik begun to sing, overwhelming him with a flush of warmth and peace. It was like a siren, calling out to him and he was pretty sure that he would do whatever that voice told him to if it was sung that way. He considered the feeling almost like being enthralled. He's never been hypnotized in his life, but if he had to describe the feeling it would be how he felt as Erik sung.

Completely at peace without a care towards what was happening around him.

Raoul would've found it scary that he could feel such a thing if it wasn't for the fact that it was Erik doing the singing and he was in love with the man.

Speaking of love.

"Hey, I found out some interesting things today." Raoul whispered, gaining Christine's attention.

He told her everything Erik had told him about himself. Raoul was positive that Erik had only been so open because he might have thought that Raoul would forget because he was sick.

Luckily for Raoul that wasn't the case.

What he had learned, he told Christine, starting from why Erik had the burn marks in the first place, to the words themselves, to his soulmates and lastly his sexuality.

Christine was silent for the most part, the only times she interrupted was a horrified reaction as he had told her about Erik's mom doing the burn act and a confused response to the sexuality portion. He told her what Erik had said about that part and the confusion went away.

Once Raoul finished telling her everything neither of them said anything, both of them were absorbing what they had learned. Christine was the one to break the silence.

"So…what do we do now?" she asked, though it was more of a question for both of them.

"I don't know." He replied, trying to think of what they could possibly do with the situation they were in.

"Do you think, this might sound like a long shot, but do you think Madame Giry could help?" Christine suggested.

Raoul raised his eyebrow. "How would she be able to help us?"

Christine shrugged. "We know that she and Erik have been friends since before Erik was five. Maybe she knows the words because she was there for them."

"Okay, but then why wouldn't she have told Erik if she knew them? Erik doesn't remember his words, why would his friend know?" Raoul countered.

Christine threw her hands in the air. "I don't know! It was just a suggestion! I don't see you coming up with any ideas!"

"Alright, alright." Raoul placated. He thought about what Christine said and hummed. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try, but you're talking about an _extremely_ long shot here."

"Better than doing nothing." She replied with a grin.

It had taken Raoul a couple days to be fully back on his feet and feeling normal again. The second day was mostly recovering from his fever. Because the danger had passed Christine and Erik went to work without a worry and Raoul spent the day resting and figuring out where their work place was in accordance to Mme. Giry's house. He was happy to find out that it was only a twenty minute walk from one point to the other.

Neither Christine nor Raoul told Erik what they were planning on doing. Instead, the day came for them to go, they had told Erik that both of them were working the evening shift and to not wait up. Erik had taken the news in stride and the younger two said no more of the subject to him.

They did work that day, but they were off as the people were coming in for their evening shift to start. They left and walked straight from their work place to Mme. Giry's house.

Raoul was extremely nervous as he walked, and knew that Christine was feeling the same as well. They travelled to the house and Raoul felt weird returning to the house that they had failed in robbing and where they had met Erik the first time.

There was no car in the driveway but there were lights on inside. They had figured Meg would be home since it was summer vacation.

Raoul knocked on the door and they waited.

They saw a movement of the curtain in a window next to the door and then it stopped. The door opened and revealed Meg.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked with a puzzled frown.

"Hey, Meg." Christine greeted with a smile. "We're here to talk to your mom. Is there any way we can wait inside until she gets back?"

Meg shrugged but opened the door more to let them in. "Okay, just don't try to take anything."

Raoul sighed as he walked in. Apparently that's never going to be let go. They went into the living room and ended up watching TV with Meg as they waited. They didn't have to wait long.

Ten minutes later Raoul heard a car pulling up in the driveway. He didn't move and neither did Christine. They stayed in their spots as they listened to the sounds of someone getting out and locking up their car and the footsteps that followed. The door opened and the closed and Mme. Giry came into view.

She stopped when she caught site of them and raised her eyebrow.

"The two failed delinquents are in my house again. To what pleasure do I owe?" she asked calmly.

"We want to talk to you, it's important." Christine answered politely, standing up from the couch.

Raoul followed her lead as Mme. Giry stared at them.

"What would be important that you could not have told Erik about it?" she probed.

"It's about Erik." Raoul replied.

Mme. Giry observed them, it was long enough that Raoul began to feel twitchy but refused to break her stare.

"Fine, follow me." Mme. Giry accepted abruptly and turned around to make her way to the second floor.

Christine immediately followed after her and Raoul trailed behind her. Mme. Giry led them to the den room. It was a nice room that Raoul had taken a likening to the first time he had been there, but there had been nothing of value to take so he had left. The room was a simple one and looked like a den. It had a couple bookcases filled with all different kinds of books and a desk near the back. There was also a small couch against one wall and an armchair a few away from it, off to the side.

Mme. Giry waved for them to sit down on the couch and Raoul and Christine obeyed. Mme. Giry took a seat on the armchair which made Raoul think that they were being interrogated instead of having a, hopefully nice, conversation.

"Has something happened to Erik? I would find that hard to believe seeing as I had seen him about ten minutes ago and you two seem to have been here during that time already."

Well, Raoul had to give Mme. Giry props for not being one to beat around the bush.

"It's not that something has happened to him, but it involves him." Christine answered.

"Am I correct in assuming that Erik doesn't know about this little trip of yours?" the Madame asked.

"Yes, and we would love it if you don't tell him about it. At least not until we've had the chance to talk to him." Raoul stated.

"I guess I could do at least that as long as it's nothing that will harm him."

"Oh no! Nothing like that!" Christine hurried to reassure. "We're actually hoping to bring him good news. It depends on your answers."

"I see. And what are the questions I'm supposed to answer?" Mme. Giry required, leaning back in her chair.

Christine sent Raoul a look. Okay, apparently he was supposed to ask the question, Christine sucked, it was her idea.

"We were wondering if you knew what Erik's words are." he told the Madame.

"What a private question. Why would you think I know?" Mme. Giry asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Because you have been friends before Erik had gotten his words and thought you might have seen them and remembered." Christine explained, biting her lip.

Mme. Giry stared at them for a few moments. Good thing Raoul had long since gotten use to Erik's more intense stare because Mme. Giry's was almost as powerful.

"Why do you want to know? It is of no concern to the two of you. You've already found one another." Mme. Giry finally spoke.

"It might be our concern. We've been looking for someone for a long time." Raoul answered. He shot a glance to Christine who nodded. Together they took off their watches that covered their left wrists and presented them to the Madame.

Mme. Giry's eyes widen at seeing the second set of identical white words but other than that had no other reaction.

"The two of you have a third? And you believe it to be Erik?" Mme. Giry whispered, partly in disbelief.

Christine nodded, pulling her wrist back and put her watch back on.

Raoul did the same. "Yeah, we're about, maybe, eighty percent sure that it's him. The not knowing whether our words matchup is the only thing throwing us off."

Mme. Giry remarked simply. "I know his words."

Raoul instantly straightened and felt Christine do the same next to him. "You do!"

"Yes…they are not pleasant." Mme. Giry told them firmly.

That made Raoul nervous. "What are they?"

"They are exactly the same if you can believe it. Two dialogues of people screaming. Tell me. Did the two of you do that when you first met?" Mme. Giry asked with no room to deny her an answer.

Raoul felt his cheeks heat up and had to look away from the Madame. He didn't want to admit that they had. On one side, it was good because that meant that Erik was most likely theirs, but on the other hand, screaming at one's soulmate because of how they looked was not a great thing.

"Yes." Christine answered weakly next to him. "Yes we did."

"Hmm. Let me tell you a little story then. Do either of you know the reason why Erik has those burn marks in the first place?" Mme. Giry questioned.

"He told me that his mother had done it." Raoul answered softly.

Mme. Giry nodded. "Yes, that is the official story but not exactly the whole truth."

"What do you mean?" Christine asked with a frown.

"Hush and I will tell you." Mme. Giry stated. "Erik's mother was not the most loving of parent's. Her soulmate had left her to raise Erik by herself and she became bitter and resentful towards Erik, blaming him for everything. It didn't help that he looked like he did and grew up those first five years in an abusive home. All from mental, emotional, and physical abuse.

"I met him when he was four and I was seven. I knew what it looked like to be in an abusive home and recognized the signs in Erik. Of course, he didn't see it that way as a lot of children don't because they didn't know anything different. I tried to help where I could but there was only so much I could do.

"Then he turned five and his words showed up. Two sets of screams, one for each wrist. You could imagine how Erik reacted. Erik had asked me to spend the night at his place for his birthday and I had agreed. I woke up to a five year sobbing in the corner of his room because the first words of his soulmates were an act of fear towards him. He had known that he didn't look normal but I believe that his words had been the last straw."

Mme. Giry paused in her story, her eyes expressing sadness long felt and not forgotten.

Based off the tone of Mme. Giry's voice and the flow of the story, Raoul dreaded the direction it was taking.

"You could probably guess how Erik's mother reacted when she had found out. She constantly taunted him about his words, reminding him continuously that even his soulmates wouldn't be able to handle what he looked like." Mme. Giry started again, her tone taking on a regretful tint. "I wish I could've been there more. I knew after I left that something had been wrong with Erik but I didn't pay enough attention to it. By the time I saw him next I was too late.

"I had gone to visit him a couple days later, to check on him. As I got to the front door I heard Erik's voice cry out in horrible pain. I ran to the window and saw something that even to this day I remember perfectly clear.

"Inside, I saw Erik standing in the kitchen in front of the stove with a butcher knife in his hand. He was crying and holding the knife over a lite fire on the stove. As he held the knife over the fire I saw that his wrist was red and already blistering. That told me what I needed to know. I tried to get his attention by yelling his name. It had worked for a second. Our eyes had met and all I saw in them was pain and determination. The next moment after Erik brought the knife away from the fire and pressed it into his other wrist."

Mme. Giry paused again, wiping her eyes that had watered as she had described what had happened. Raoul and Christine remained quiet, giving her the time to gather herself.

"Ah, after Erik had burned the second mark he had fainted from the pain." Mme. Giry continued slowly. "I went and got help and he was rushed to the hospital. I went with them and was the one to tell the hospital that his mother had been the one to do the act."

"You lied." Raoul whispered.

"I did what I had to do to help my friend." Mme. Giry replied with a hardness in her eyes. "I knew he lived in an abusive home and saw the chance to get him out of it, even if it meant lying."

"And Erik?" Christine asked softly.

"He lost his memories of those few days. He didn't remember his words, he didn't remember that he burned them off. After the whole thing he was taken away from his mother and placed in foster care." Mme. Giry explained.

Raoul felt like his mind had been blown, put back together and blown again. This was not what he had expected when he and Christine decided to go to Mme. Giry's.

"He began wearing a mask once everything was over." Mme. Giry continued. "I think, on some subconscious level he remembers his words and what he did and decided to hide his face from the world to not hear anyone scream because of him. Soulmate or not."

"But he's ours. I know he is." Raoul stated confidently. "Our words turned white after we met him and, while I hate to admit it, we both screamed when we saw him."

"That may be, but Erik is a fragile soul." Mme. Giry told them, then leveled a stern gaze at them. "I hope you are prepared to fight for him."

"He's everything we've wanted and needed. We'll chase him if we have too." Christine replied determinedly.

Madame Giry gave them a pleased smile.

… **yeah, that was a little dark. But you now know the truth. Hope y'all enjoyed it though. Leave a review!**

 **Note: The next chapter was actually supposed to be the last, however, one chapter ended up turning into three because they got so long! Lol, which I'm sure is good news for my readers because it's more to read. At least, I hope its good news. I spent a long time working on those last three one after another because I had wanted to get it done! I was so tired by the time I finished. So yes, the story is almost over and the last of them will happened-time wise- one right after the other. See ya next time!**


	10. Demanding Answers

Demanding Answers

 _You're in for a surprise. –A_

Erik frowned as he read the text Antoinette sent him.

 _What do you mean? –E_

 _Oh, just wait for the teens to get back. –A_

That made him even more confused but knew that he wouldn't get any more information out of her. She could be supremely stubborn at times. He went back to his medical journal that he been reading on and off for the past few days.

He heard the front door open then close, two pairs of feet walking through the living room and in the hallway. He heard another door open and close, probably being one of the teen's bedrooms.

He waited for whatever Antoinette had told him to wait for but nothing happened. Eventually he gave up and got ready for bed. He went to bed confused about what his friend could've meant from her text.

The morning was a normal one. Christine and Raoul were sleeping in because they didn't have to work until the afternoon and Erik left the house. Sadly, he didn't get the opportunity to talk to the Madame because she had come in right as they had opened and their first patients were already waiting to be seen. Erik went about his schedule like usual, yesterday's text having been thrown to the back of his mind as work distracted him.

Lunch came and Erik walked out to the front to meet of with Nadir and saw Antoinette waiting with the cop in the waiting room.

"So?" she asked as he walked up.

"So what?" Erik questioned back with a confused frown.

Antoinette's eyebrows furrowed down. "Didn't Mr. Chagny and Miss Daae talk to you yesterday?"

"No? They came back and went to bed from what I gathered." He told her.

He watched her mumble something under her breath that sounded a lot like, 'cowards' but he couldn't be certain. "Is this about the text you sent me yesterday?"

"Yes. They have something they need to tell you and it's big." Antoinette answered, still frowning.

"Okay, then why don't you tell me?" Erik suggested but she was already shaking her head.

"No, too private." Then she paused with a thoughtful look. "Actually, next time you see the two of them, tell them that if they don't tell you about the thing we've discussed, I'll tell you. I'm positive they don't want that."

"You talked to the two criminals in the making?" Nadir joined in from his chair behind Antoinette.

The Madame huffed with a roll of her eyes, but then smirked. "Yes I did and soon you won't be able to call them criminals anymore. I think they'll be shortly having a more permanent position in our lives."

She pecked Erik on the cheek where the mask didn't cover it.

"Try to have an open mind. They mean well." Antoinette told him with a smile. And with that she walked into the back rooms of the clinic.

"What was that all about?" Nadir grumbled as he stood up from his chair.

"I do not know, but I suppose I shall find out eventually." Erik replied.

Nadir shrugged. "Anyway there was something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Erik turned his attention to the cop.

"That foster father that the two had? Well it took a while, but I was able to get an investigation started on him. And what do you know, the man was a drug dealer and was abusive to the kids in his care. Only reason he became a foster parent was because he wanted the benefits and money." Nadir sneered.

"I hope proper measures are being taken against him then."

Nadir nodded. "You bet they are. I'm making sure of it."

"I'm glad. I will let Mr. de Chagny and Miss Daae know. I'm sure they'll be relieved to hear the news." Erik told him.

He went out to lunch with Nadir and when he got back Antoinette refused to tell him anything else about what his houseguests could possibly have to tell him that would require an open mind.

He went back to his house that evening confused. He also knew that he will not be seeing the two teens that night because of their work schedule. But the next day they both had the day off so Erik figured he will find out then what all this fuss was about.

He got ready for bed that night with that conclusion.

Of course the next day, Antoinette had not been pleased to find out that he still didn't know what was going on but he had explained that he hasn't seen the younger two yet because they worked late yesterday. She accepted that and Erik later mentally hit himself because he could have lied and had the Madame tell him then and there.

Oh well, what done is done.

At the end of the day, Erik left the clinic, assuring the Madame that he will be seeing the teens once he got back home and would tell them her message. However, he was curious to see how long it would take the two teens to tell him whatever the thing was and didn't want to push them to do it with Antoinette's message. He supposed he would end having to say the message anyway since who knows how long it would take them to speak up on their own.

As he walked into his house he heard the sound of the TV on in the living room.

"Erik that you?" he heard Raoul's voice call out to him.

He went to the living room and stood in the entrance and saw Christine and Raoul sitting on the couch.

"I didn't realize there was another person who had keys to my place for you to ask that question." He stated.

Raoul rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"I have news for the two of you." Erik announced. "Your foster father is currently going through a hard time. Nadir has caught him as an inappropriate influence and undeserving of his position as a foster parent."

"Good." Raoul stated. "Jerk deserves everything that's coming to him."

"Where does that leave us?" Christine asked nervously.

"You two are allowed to remain here." Erik reassured. "Nadir is going to make sure that no one comes after the two of you and force you into another home."

"Thank god for that!" Raoul declared, pumping his fist in the air once then let it fall to his side.

"They wouldn't separate us any way. They couldn't." Christine stated softly enough that Erik almost didn't hear it, but he did.

"No of course not. They would never separate soulmates who've found each other." Erik stated firmly.

For some reason, that got him shocked looks from both of them.

"When did you find out?" Raoul demanded in disbelief.

Erik frowned. "I've known since the beginning." That got him stunned stares. "All right, I had my suspicions that first meeting but it was confirmed when I saw you again. What? The two of you give off the atmosphere of being soulmates and you two are certainly not siblings. I thought you realized that I knew."

"Oh!" Christine straightened up like she had been poke in her side. "Yes, of course! Raoul and I are soulmates and yes we knew that you knew!"

She said this with a weak but relieved smile, making Erik puzzled.

"Why the reaction then?" He asked.

"No reason!" Raoul jumped in with an overly large smile. "We thought you were talking about something else that's all!"

What other meaning from Erik's earlier statement could they have possibly thought of, Erik didn't know, but decided not to push the obviously unnerved couple in front of him.

"Right…" Erik trailed off.

Christine quickly stood up from her spot on the couch and began walking over to him.

"Let's do a lesson. It's early enough to do one. Let's do one."

Obviously, Christine was still frazzled by whatever had just happened so Erik went with it, if to only calm her nerves.

"Alright." He agreed and let the younger take his hand and pull him towards the basement for their lesson.

Christine has greatly improved over the weeks Erik has instructed her. She was wonderful before but now she was a marvel. Of course, Erik made sure to remind her that if she wished to excel she had much still to learn, but he also praised her progress.

The lesson went as it always did, by the end of it Christine was tired and Erik was pleased.

However, the ending was different.

"Erik?"

He hummed to let her know that he heard.

"Will you sing with me?" Christine asked.

Erik looked up to see Christine biting her lip nervously and sighed.

"I cannot. You are not ready for that." He told her.

"What do you mean?" she probed.

"I mean, you have yet to hear my voice by itself let alone have enough time to get used to it enough to be able to sing with me." Erik answered.

"Whose fault is that?" Christine scolded and Erik tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"Yes, it's my fault but that still does not change the answer." Erik countered.

"Then how about you sing to me? One song? You've sang to Raoul." Christine pouted.

Erik knew that was going to come back to him eventually. He sighed again, this time in defeat.

"Alright. I'll sing you the same thing I sung to Raoul. That should make it fair."

"Or, you can sing this." Christine stated, holding out a music sheet that Erik didn't see her retrieve.

He took it and glanced at the title. He blinked then moved his eyes to look up at Christine.

"You found my old music sheets."

"I promise I didn't do it on purpose. I was looking around and—" Christine began.

"And you accidently found them? It is only because I do not see how you could've known their existence that I will believe that." Erik cut in. And stood from the piano bench.

He read over the familiar music, remembering every pitch and note he put into the song to make it sound perfect.

"Please?" Christine implored, holding her hands together in front of her for good measure.

"Fine, but you have to do something for me in return." Erik stated.

"What?" she asked curious. She brought her clasped hands down to rest against her stomach.

"Apparently there is something you and Mr. de Chagny are hiding from me. I would like to know what it is." Erik commanded.

He watched as Christine take a visible swallow and her eyes widen. "What are you—?"

"Please do not finish that. The Madame has informed me that the two of you paid her a visit and that it was over something important that had to do with me. She also told me to tell you that if you do not tell me, she would. And trust me when I say that she is a woman of her word." Erik told her.

Christine bite her lip. "Can it wait to be done with Raoul? It involves him too."

Erik nodded.

"Of course. I shall do my part now though. Please sit down." Erik instructed. That got him an eyebrow raise so he continued. "It's a precaution."

She gave him a confused frown but did as she was told. She went, sat down on the piano bench and waited, staring at him expectantly.

Erik placed the music sheet on the piano and began to sing softly.

 _Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation  
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination  
Silently the senses abandon their defenses_

Christine had gained a glassy look in her eyes and her mouth slightly agape but Erik continued. Though he made sure to stand near her in case she swayed too far.

 _Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor  
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender  
Turn your face away from the garish light of day  
Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light  
And listen to the music of the night_

Christine was blinking slower and slower but her breathing increased and struggled, though not too much to be a concern yet. Erik was glad he had told her to sit down.

 _Close you eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams  
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before  
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar  
And you'll live as you've never lived before_

And Christine started to fall to the side. Erik quickly caught hold of her and kneeled in front of her, holding her up. He had to admit that he was impressed by how long Christine lasted. Nadir had collapsed after the second verse when he had heard it the first time. Antoinette was the only one to ever last through the whole of any of Erik's songs but that could be referred back to all the years she had knew and listen to him. Christine's eyes were closed so Erik snapped his fingers in front of her face once.

She slowly opened her eyes and blinked them a couple times in a daze.

"Wha—" she started.

"You will be just fine Miss Daae. Come. Let us get you out of here." Erik stated firmly and helped her stand up.

This was why he didn't sing.

 **So there you go! That was a little bit awkward but at least Christine finally hear Erik sing! Next chapter will be in Christine's POV and this is when it gets real. ;) Review! See ya next time!**


	11. Confessions

Confessions

Erik's voice was the most beautiful sound Christine has ever heard. She was glad that she didn't have Raoul tell her to describe his voice because the wait was worth it. She had expected Erik to be a good singer but what she got was beyond her imagination. It was the voice of an angel. Powerful yet soft. Entrancing and she was completely spell bound as soon as Erik began. She had let the voice sweep over her and fill her with passion and warmth. She took notice that her breathing was stuttering but she didn't care, because that voice was singing to her. Calling out to her like an angel from heaven.

She would do anything it commanded.

She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes or had started to fall to the side until she was grabbed and sat up. She heard a snap and forced herself to open her eyes.

"Wha—" she started, blinking.

"You will be just fine Miss Daae. Come. Let us get you out of here." Erik stated in front of her and she realized that he was kneeling.

He helped her stand, though kept a hold on her as he moved her towards the stairs. She took advantage of having his arms around her by leaning more into his hold, her head resting on his collarbone and shoulder. They made it to the stairs and Erik let out a sigh.

"This is why I do not sing." Erik mumbled.

Frowning, Christine lifted her head and followed Erik's gaze up the staircase and saw a blinking Raoul lying on the floor at the entrance to the basement.

"Uh," Raoul groaned as he sat up slowly, clutching his head.

"Are you okay?" Christine called up.

Raoul waved his hand dismissingly, not looking at them.

"He will be fine." Erik informed, beginning to help Christine climb the steps. "My voice is a lot of things but harmful is not one of them."

"Tell that to my bruised body from hitting the floor." Raoul grumbled as they got closer.

"If I had known you would be listening, I would have had you do the same precaution as Miss Daae." Erik shrugged. They made it to the entrance and Erik let go of Christine to help Raoul up.

"I didn't know you were going to sing. I came to let you know that dinner was ready." Raoul mumbled as Erik pulled him up. Raoul swayed forward and had to grip Erik's arms to keep from falling.

Erik took his weight easily, shifting him till Raoul's arm was over his shoulder and Erik's arm around his waist. He held out his other hand for Christine to take, which she did.

"You act as if you're used to having to do this." Christine stated as Erik wrapped his other arm around her to keep her from swaying too far.

"Because I am." Erik answered simply and pulled the two of them with him.

He brought them to the kitchen and dumped Raoul into one chair and sat Christine down in another.

"Does this always happen when you sing? People getting a little…out of it." Raoul asked resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand.

"For the most part yes." Erik replied, going to the stove to make sure dinner wasn't burning or catching fire. "Nothing is physically wrong with you. My voice just…"

"Hypnotizes. It hypnotizes people." Raoul added.

Erik cocked his head thoughtfully. "If that is how you would describe it, yes."

"Oh, it's the only way I would describe that feeling. Not saying it's bad, but weird." Raoul claimed.

Erik shrugged. He turned off the stove and began getting dishes out. "As you say."

"It that why you stopped?" Raoul pressed.

Erik paused in his motion of getting the plates from their cabinet. Christine sent Raoul a glare that he ignored.

"That is one of the reasons." Erik replied slowly, his back to them.

"Can I asked what the others are?" Raoul probed.

Raoul wasn't able to ignore the kick to his leg that Christine had given him. He yelped and jumped in his seat. He sent her a scowl as he rubbed the spot on his leg that she had hit.

Erik had turned at the sound Raoul had let out and was now smirking at them in amusement.

"Enough of that. You two need to eat." He stated.

Erik served them dinner and they ate for the most part in silence. Raoul began talking more and more as he got out of the daze he was in from listening to Erik's voice.

As the meal went on, Christine's nerves came to her. She had agreed to tell Erik what she and Raoul had talked to Mme. Giry about and she was not excited about telling him.

She was positive that Erik was it. He was the partner they had been waiting for but things can always go wrong. She was trying not to be negative but she was the type to always picture the worst case scenario. Maybe he would forget because of the whole incident of her and Raoul practically fainting. Then again, if they didn't tell him Mme. Giry said she would and Christine didn't think Erik would appreciate learning that they were soulmates from her instead of them.

After they had finished, Christine and Raoul picked up the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Christine placed the last dish as Raoul put the soap in, closed the door and looked up at Erik who was watching them from the table.

"I believe it is your turn as part our deal." Erik hinted.

Raoul frowned and shot a glance at Erik then her. "What's he talking about?"

"I, um, agreed that if he sings, I would tell him what we went to talk to Madame Giry about." Christine confessed.

Raoul's eyes widen. "Christine, not cool."

"I would not give her too much of a hard time." Erik cut in. "The Madame had told me that if you were unable to tell me, she would take the deed upon herself."

"Harsh Madame Giry." Raoul whispered but his eyes held a shine of respect. He straightened. "What do you remember about our break-in?"

Going right into it then. Alright. Christine thought nervously.

"The one in the Madame's house?" Erik asked and Christine nodded. "Not a lot. I woke up and heard voices and sounds coming from the kitchen. I went down, saw the two of you and confronted you. You saw me, screamed, and ran away. I cleaned up the mess you left and went back to bed."

"Okay, but what did you say?" Raoul pressed, leaning his hands on the back of his chair across the table from Erik.

"Say? I do not remember that." Erik frowned in confusion.

"If you had to take a guess." Christine offered.

"Hmm…" Erik leaned back in his chair, bringing his hand to his mouth, and thinking. "Given the circumstance, I would have probably demanded what the two you were doing."

Christine's breath caught in her throat but she forced herself to speak.

"Words. Can you say it exactly like you would have said it then?" she pleaded.

She could tell that Erik had one eyebrow raised underneath his mask.

"I do not understand—"

"Please?" Raoul implored. "Just the words."

Erik stared at them a couple moments taking in their serious stances, his hands went from his mouth to rest on his knee.

"Hey. What are you two doing." He complied softly, his golden eyes focused on the two of them.

Christine felt her breath hitch in her lungs and her eyes watered. She has waited a long time to hear those words again.

"Well, hot damn." She heard Raoul whisper next to her in awe.

Erik blinked once. "The two of you are not very good at clearing up things."

Christine let out a high pitched giggle and elbowed Raoul gently in the side. He gave her a side glance and she reached for her watch. Comprehension came onto his face and Raoul reached for his own. Together they took off their watches and showed Erik their left wrists.

Erik had a puzzled frown but leaned forward in his chair to look at the marks. He saw the identical white words on both of their wrist and his eyes widened.

"These turned white after we had met you." Raoul claimed.

Erik looked up at them. "And you believe me to be the person who said this?"

Christine shrugged. "It would fit. They turned white after you, and we were all together at that point. You have two marks as well, and you just repeated what the words are without knowing what they were because we asked you to say what you would've said in that situation."

"Plus Madame Giry said that your marks match what we did." Raoul added.

Christine wanted to hit Raoul again when Erik narrowed his eyes at him.

"Madame Giry?" he repeated slowly. "She told you that?"

Raoul must have realized his mistake because he shifted awkwardly. "Yes? She apparently knew what your marks have said this whole time?" he answered weakly.

"She was only doing it to protect you!" Christine rushed to add as Erik's eyes grew darker. "After what had happened with your mom and considering what your words were, she thought it would be best if she didn't tell you."

Erik placed his hands on the table and slowly stood up.

"And what exactly did the dear Madame tell you what my marks were." He asked calmly, eyes gleaming warningly.

Christine inwardly flinched. She has never seen Erik mad before.

And frankly, it was _terrifying_.

"Screams." Raoul squeaked out, causing those golden eyes to zero in on him. "Your marks are both screams. Which I and Christine did when we first met."

"Oh, I remember that part perfectly well." Erik stated dryly. "Excuse me, but I have to make a phone call."

Without a backwards glance, Erik briskly walked out of the dining room.

Christine stood there dumbfounded, not believing what had happened. It had been, well not going great, but she had felt things were going well enough that they were making a good case.

"Oh my god!" Raoul gasped next to her and slumped forward. "I'm never going to get on Erik's bad side. Ever! Apparently that's like having a death wish!"

"Do you think it'll be okay?" Christine asked him.

Suddenly they both jumped at the sound of something crashing down the hall and then heard Erik's voice echo loudly through house.

"I think Erik got a hold of the Madame." Raoul commented shakily. He looked towards the entrance to the hallway where they could hear Erik's yelling but couldn't make out the words.

"Why did you mention her? Didn't you realize that Erik would've caught it?" Christine criticized. "He must be feeling so betrayed right now!"

"I know! I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose!" Raoul admitted.

Christine put her hands to her head. "Why do we keep messing up when it comes to him?! He's our soulmate!"

"Being soulmates doesn't mean that things are easy." Raoul pointed out with a sigh.

"Okay, but it shouldn't be this hard either!" Christine countered with a sniffle. "I feel like we ruined his life by entering it!"

She felt Raoul's arms wrap around her waist and she was pulled into his chest, his chin resting on her head.

"Come on, I wouldn't go that far." Raoul hushed. "Sure we made a bad first impression, but he was the one to offer us all of this in the first place. I doubt he would've done such a thing if he thought we were going to ruin his life. I actually think things have been going pretty great for the most part."

She sniffled again and dropped her hands from her face to hug Raoul back, pressing her face into his chest. "You think?"

"Of course!" Raoul answered cheerfully. "And you know what? I don't hear Erik anymore. That must mean he's calmed down."

Christine raised her head and listened for anything from outside the dining room.

Nothing.

"You're right." She whispered getting hopeful.

"Duh, I'm always right." Raoul declared superiorly and then kissed the top of her head. "Everything is going to be alright. You'll see."

 **Well…that got awkward. I don't do an angry Erik often so I hope you enjoyed the POV of someone experiencing his anger.** **Next chapter will be in Erik's POV and will be the last chapter. Things are coming a close my dear readers. Review!**

 ***Note: so…I might not get to post the next update for a while. I know! It's the last chapter but I'm literally going to be busy from Friday to Sunday. I'm going to San Japan! Yay! If you don't know what that is, it's an anime convention in San Antonio. This year I'm volunteering too. Should be fun.**


	12. Acceptence

Acceptance

Erik had rushed out of the dining room like the devil was chasing him. He had never felt this much anger and hurt at one time. He went into his room and shut the door behind him. It slammed shut, not that he cared.

He ripped his phone out of his pocket and made the call to Antoinette with his hands shaking from his rage. The phone rang and at the third, the call was picked up.

"Erik? What's going on?" he heard Antoinette's voice on the other side and snapped.

"You lying Delilah!" he roared, pushing his fist out. It hit his hanging mirror, causing it break and fall to the floor. He knew that his hand was bleeding but he ignored it and the pain.

"Erik!" Antoinette replied shocked. "Why would you—?"

"Twenty seven years!" He interrupted. "You knew what my words were this whole time and kept from me!"

There was silence on the other end, the only thing Erik could hear was his own heavy breathing.

"What did they tell you?" the Madame finally asked.

Erik let out a harsh laugh. "It's true then."

"What did they tell you?" Antoinette repeated firmly.

"Oh, that you knew what my words were this entire time, but do not worry, they said you also did it to protect me." Erik answered her bitterly.

"I did." She replied and he snorted.

"Really, I could have handled my words. But did you ever give me that option. NO!" he snarled, his grip on his phone tightening and his injured hand clenched forcefully that it made the cuts bleed more and blood dripped down onto the floor.

"Erik! You couldn't handle your words! That's why you burned them off!" Antoinette shouted in distress.

Erik froze, everything from his body to his mind simply became motionless.

"Explain." He growled out eventually.

He heard Antoinette sighed tiredly over the phone but did as he asked. She told him about spending the night at his house on his birthday because he had asked her to. Her waking up to find him miserable over his words and how his mother taunted him over the next week after because of them. She told him about how she had come back to his house to check up on him only to find him in the process of burning his marks off with a knife he had heated up over the stove.

"When you woke up in the hospital, you did not remember what had happened and I felt no reason to tell you the truth. I lied and told everybody that is was your mother that had done the act and since you had other signs of abuse, they believed me." Antoinette finished.

"You betrayed me." Erik whispered, hurting like he had never felt before. He knew it was because it was Antoinette who had done the betraying.

"I saved you." She replied calmly. "If I was given the option to go back in time to that moment, I wouldn't have changed anything. I did what I had to for you to be taken from that house."

"And my words?" He asked weakly, falling to his knees. His energy from his anger having evaporated, only leaving the pain. "Why did you not tell me later? As I grew up?"

"Because I was scared." His friend confessed gently. "I was scared that if you were to ever find out again, you would have had a similar reaction. I couldn't stand to have you feel that pain again!"

That last part was said loudly and Erik heard her breathe unsteadily over the phone.

He couldn't handle the thought of it being his fault that she was crying.

"Goodbye Antoinette." He whispered.

"Erik—!" she started.

He hung up before she could say anymore.

He stayed there on his knees for he didn't know how long but he felt numb. The anger was long gone, the pain lingered but for the most part he felt nothing.

He blinked and felt tears fall from his eyes. Startled, he raised his non injured hand and touched the rim of his mask.

His hand came away wet.

He took off his mask and wiped the tears away, forcing himself to calm his breathing to something steadier. Once he achieved it he looked down at his phone again.

Making his decision, he dialed another number. The call was picked up on the second ring.

"Hello? Erik, what do you want?" Nadir's voice came from the other end.

"I need your help." Erik stated and told his friend everything.

It took a while, but not once did the older man interrupt, which Erik was grateful for because he was having a hard time as it was getting everything out. When Erik finished, there was a long silence.

Finally, it was broken.

"I hate to say this," Nadir began slowly. "But, my friend, your life sucks."

Erik let out a broken chuckle. "Cannot say I disagree with that at the moment, old friend."

"Look," Nadir continued. "I get why you're upset, I would be too, but I can also understand the Madame's point as well. From the sounds of it, all she wanted was to protect you."

"I know." Erik sighed tiredly. "But it hurts."

"I know it does." The older man soothed. "But give it time. I know you Erik, and you've already forgiven her. She had her reasons, and you accept them. The pain will go away eventually."

"It will take a while." Erik mumbled.

"And I'm sure she'll understand that." Nadir replied. "But tell her she's forgiven. That's the first step for both of you."

Erik didn't say anything and neither did Nadir. They were silent for a couple minutes, allowing Erik to gather his thoughts.

"Ah, Erik. I do have one last question to ask." The older began awkwardly.

The tone made Erik curious. "What?"

"Are those two punks really your soulmates?" Nadir asked as if desperate for Erik to deny everything.

"Yes, I'm positive they are." Erik chuckled. "They had enough evidence to support their claim."

Nadir groaned.

"Don't talk cop to me, it doesn't suit you." he then grumbled. "I can't believe it. You met your soulmates because you just happened to be housesitting their target. Only you."

"I do not know how to interpret that sentence so I'm going to ignore it." Erik countered. He sighed. "Thank you, my friend."

"Anytime." Erik could hear the smirk in Nadir's tone.

They said their goodbyes and he hung up.

Erik immediately called Antoinette back. As it rang, he shifted from his kneeling position and sat on the floor with his legs stretched out. He felt the pricks and needles of his legs waking up.

"Erik?" Antoinette's voice answered the phone cautiously.

"I'm sorry." Erik apologized gently.

There was silence on the other end for a couple moments.

"Why?" Antoinette whispered.

"Because you had your reasons and they were good ones." Erik explained. "It will take me time to stop from feeling completely hurt by your actions but I will do it."

"I'm sorry too." The Madame replied. "It was stupid for me to have kept your words a secret for so long, especially after you became an adult. But I was scared. I'm not using that as an excuse, only a reason. I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me if you were to find out the truth."

"I understand. You are forgiven, my dear Anton." Erik whispered kindly, using the nickname he had given her when they were kids and he couldn't pronounce her full name.

Antoinette let out a choked sound at the nickname and he could tell she was crying again, but this time in relief.

"Thank you, Eir." She replied with his old nickname, which was the first syllable of his name that sounded like 'air.' "What are you going to do about the teens?"

"They probably went to bed. I left them in a bad state. They wouldn't want to see me after that." Erik guessed, looking down at his bloody hand. It didn't look like it needed switches, though that was quite a lot of blood on his floor now.

"I doubt it." Antoinette replied. "They're your soulmates and they just finished telling you that and since you left them angry, they are probably waiting up for you to make sure you are okay."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Erik doubted. He wiggled his injured hand's fingers. It hurt but not enough to indicate fractures or anything broken.

"Twenty bucks says you're wrong." The Madame challenged.

"I'm not sure I want to take that bet as you seem too confident about it." Erik countered.

"Chicken!" Antoinette accused.

"You know that only works on Nadir, not me." Erik grinned when he heard her huff. He stood out from the floor and made his way to his bathroom.

"Fine. But you still have to tell me if I'm right or not." She demanded.

"As my Madame commands." Erik deadpanned. He turned on the light to the bathroom.

Antoinette chuckled. Erik felt some of his pain ease a bit at the sound.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She concluded. "Goodnight Erik."

"Goodnight, Madame." Erik replied and they hung up.

Erik put his phone on the counter and turned the sink faucet. He washed all the blood off his hand and cleaned the cuts. He kept the first aid kit in the linen closet, which was down the hall.

He supposed he would find out if the younger two had stayed up sooner then he thought.

He went back out to his room and took in the mess his floor was with the broken mirror and blood. Sighing, he stepped around the mess, picked up his discarded mask and put it back on. He went out of the bedroom. He was quiet as he made his way to the linen closet.

He was able to open it before he was caught.

"Erik?"

He turned and saw Raoul and Christine poking their heads out from the living room doorway.

"I'm glad I did not take that bet." He mumbled. He pulled the kit out.

"What bet?" Raoul asked the same time Christine stated, "You're hurt!"

Christine rushed over to him and took the kit from his hands. Erik wasn't able to stop his injured hand from recoiling from the exchanged. Christine saw it.

"What did you do?" she frowned in concern, taking his wrist to look at the cuts on his hand.

"The Madame had wanted to make a bet on whether or not the two of you stayed up. You did, so I am glad I did not take the bet." Erik answered Raoul's earlier question then replied to Christine's. "I punched a mirror. Bad idea on my part, but I was not thinking rationally in the moment." Erik explained, letting the younger pull him into the living room.

Raoul pushed off the wall as Christine made Erik sit on the couch for her to get a look at his cuts. She sat down next to him and kept a firm hold on his hand.

"I'll say. Remind me to never piss you off. Apparently you have some temper." Raoul mentioned coming to stand across the coffee table.

"Considering the fact that it was your fault in the first place, I say if you ever make Erik lose his temper towards you, you deserve it." Christine asserted, not looking up from Erik's hand.

"It was an accident!" Raoul protested.

Christine shrugged, not paying the other teen any more mind. She opened the kit and got out medicine.

"It's alright. It turned out for the best that Mr. de Chagny let that information slip." Erik assured. "We talked and, for the most part, have made amends."

"Ha! There you go! I'm in the clear!" Raoul stated triumphantly.

"Yeah, you talked after you punched a mirror." Christine grumbled as she rubbed the medicine into the cuts.

"I am sorry if I had caused either of you trouble." Erik apologized.

"Yeah, this wasn't exactly how I pictured the day to end." Raoul mumbled lightly. "Then again, I didn't think a lot of what has happened today would happen. That's life I guess."

"I'll say. And it was all because Madame Giry threatened to tell Erik about the whole soulmate thing in the first place." Christine added. She finished with the medicine and took out the cloth bandages.

"Yeah, about that…" Raoul started and focused on Erik. "Do you believe us? You kind of left before we finished talking about it."

Erik took note that Raoul's posture had gotten stiff and Christine's hands started to tremble as she wrapped his hand. To put them at ease, he flipped his hand in Christine's grip and grasped one of her hands. He met her eyes for a second then shifted to meet Raoul's.

"I do not see why not. It will be strange for me to see you two as anything but two teens under my care, but that has obviously changed, and my perspective will follow eventually." He answered.

Raoul beamed and Christine accidently squeezed Erik's injured hand in her excitement.

"Ah! The hand." Erik flinched.

Christine let go. "Sorry!"

"It is fine." Erik told her.

"This is awesome!" Raoul exclaimed. "Sure you don't see us that way yet, but we already love you so we'll get you there!"

"Wait, what—?" Erik started, shocked by Raoul's last sentence but was cut off as Raoul leaned down and pressed his lips to his.

Erik froze at the motion. It was a press of lips against lips and it only lasted a couple seconds but when Raoul pulled away grinning, Erik was gawking at him.

"Hey Christine, I think I broke Erik!" Raoul stated gleefully.

"That's not something to be proud of!" Christine hissed.

Erik blinked a couple times, watching Christine scold Raoul while the boy laughed.

"Yes, this is going to take some time to get used to." Erik whispered to himself then smiled.

But he was fine with that.

… **Well that's that. The ending is now here! You have reached the finish line! I hope that my readers enjoyed and please leave a review with your thoughts. If you enjoyed this one, you might be interested in reading my other POTO works. Don't worry, they are all completed.** **See ya next time! And you will be seeing me again!**


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